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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28138389">All We Were Promised</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/korusca_kettch/pseuds/korusca_kettch'>korusca_kettch</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon-Typical Violence, Epilogue What Epilogue, Everyone Needs A Hug, Everyone lives, Found Family, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, Kind of follows canon - Freeform, M/M, More ships to be added, More tags to be added, PTSD, Sort Of, Time Travel Fix-It, and they go do their laundry instead, but then doesn't, canon child abuse, domestic fluff and angst, everyone gets to be part of the family, more classic cars, season 12 canon divergence, skip the drama and just give hugs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:22:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>59,405</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28138389</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/korusca_kettch/pseuds/korusca_kettch</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A ripple is sent back in time and a change is made. Maybe if a few things are altered, the dominos will fall differently. Will it be enough to save the Winchester family from falling apart this time? Can they have a different ending?</p><p>Can they have everything they were supposed to get in Act 2? Can they escape a rusty nail and a lonely bridge in heaven?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Castiel/Dean Winchester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>137</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Carry On (nothing equals the splendor)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivedonestranger/gifts">ivedonestranger</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>2020</p><p>"It doesn't feel right," Jack murmured. The newly omnipotent God stood with his angel on the edge of a wood in Heaven. They watched Dean Winchester stand on a bridge waiting for his brother. Everything was still and peaceful around them, peaceful and very empty. </p><p>"Dean just...died?" Castiel was barely holding in his outrage. "And Sam just left off hunting to go get married? What happened to our friends? What about Eileen?" </p><p>"I thought stepping aside would change things, but it feels like this is what Chuck wanted." Jack mused. "One of them dead and the other given up. And you and I, we still lost our family."</p><p>Cas didn't respond, and Jack looked over to see his father was crying, quiet tears running down his heartbroken face. Jack had all the power in the universe. Surely he could do something to keep his father from crying.</p><p>"Can we fix it?" Jack asked. "Is there something I can change?"</p><p>Cas thought hard. Altering time was hard but possible. He and another angel, Balthazar, had done it once before when they were trying to create souls for a heavenly civil war. Jack had the power, certainly. But what exactly to change, and when?</p><p>"I think you would have to decide very specifically what your goal is to save," Cas said softly.</p><p>"I want to save our family." </p><p>Cas looked at Jack. His adopted son. The most powerful being in the multiverse, yet only three years old. It was truly unfair that he had experienced so much chaos and grief in his brief life, and he was already burdened with such terrible responsibility.</p><p>"Alright," Cas said. He turned to look at Jack seriously. A plan was forming in his mind. "Then we need to pick a starting point. We need to release Dean from Chuck's manipulations early. He has to be able to make his own choices. Dean is the linchpin of this family and..." Cas looked away, staring at Dean on the bridge for a moment, "in this life, he let us all fall apart."</p><p>"How do we help him do things differently? Should one of us go back in time?"</p><p>"No." Cas was certain of this. "If we went back, then that would create a big enough ripple that Chuck would notice. And we would be too tempted to make things the way we want them, and then how are we any better than Chuck was?" He waited for Jack's nod before continuing. "No, we need someone else to help him. A friend that he trusts, and one who will help him focus his priorities."</p><p>"I don't know who you're referring to," Jack said.</p><p>Cas smiled. "I know you didn't really get to meet the real one. She died far too soon. I think we need her to help if Dean is going to let go of his anger enough to pull us together."</p><p>"Okay," Jack agreed. "Let's get started then. I'm done with this."</p><p>They turned away from the bridge and started to make a new ending.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>2016</p><p>In a dramatic burst of light and darkness, God left the world on his sightseeing trip with his sister. The sun returned to the sky, and the world rejoiced. Amidst the chaos and drama, a thread of power reached through time and slipped a message into the hands of a barely-remembered goddess. She shared it with her sisters, and they debated for hours about possible consequences before coming to a decision. </p><p>Together the sisters entered the workroom. The tapestry of history tumbled through time below the crystalline floor. An ancient loom stood proudly in the center of the room, and billions of golden threads stretched tightly between the woven edge and the grasping tendrils of light that hung above. The image flickered, and a huge typewriter replaced the loom for a moment.</p><p>The sisters looked resentfully at the light above. Once this had been their domain, but they were little more than housekeepers now. Tidying up. Cutting loose threads and dangling modifiers. Perhaps it was indeed time to try and change some things.</p><p>Two of the sisters moved to the machine, ever-shifting between forms as it pulled between their will and the will of the creator.</p><p>Clotho, the spinner, reached down into the already woven cloth and pulled on a tied-off string. She pulled off a tiny bit of shining wool from the edge and freed it. Lachesis, the apportioner, took her measuring string and measured the tiny piece of fluff. She tutted and shook her head. </p><p>"Too short." She murmured.</p><p>With a small smile, Clotho nodded. She twisted and pulled on the bit of fluff, and it became just the slightest bit longer. Then she took a spindle from her pocket and some spare gold roving. She set the thread to the spindle with a practiced hand and began to spin it out as Lachesis kept a careful eye on the length.</p><p>While they were busy, the youngest sister studied a single thread coming from the tapestry. A thick, bright thread, woven deeply into the last part of the cloth's large patterns, tangled tightly with another. It was held tightly by the tendrils of light, wound around and around one finger-like loop. Atropos looked at the scissors in her hands. She didn't think cutting the thread was what the messenger wanted. </p><p>With a sigh, she slipped the scissors back into her pocket. Cutting was easier. Climbing up to the tendrils with a ladder-like mental construction, she reached for the end of the thread. </p><p>It was careful work. She only dared to remove one of the strings, or the release of tension would alert the creator instantly. Unthreading the one from the other, slowly and cautiously. It was as if the creator had pre-woven these two threads without weaving in the rest. Two threads do not make a tapestry, though; they just make a knot.</p><p>Finally, the single string was unwound to the edge of the finished cloth. Clotho and Lachesis were finished and ready with their thread. They carefully added it back in and left it and the bright thread loose and untethered. As they looked at them lying on the crystalline floor, they noticed a third thread that was already loose. Not one of the golden human threads, but a thin, glittering rainbow of light. With a shrug at each other, they brought over small stools. </p><p>Now it was time to guard these fragile threads, not from harm, exactly, but from being controlled.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>The woods were quiet near the garden where Chuck and Amara had left. Night had fallen, and a woman stumbled over a sharp stick as it poked into her bare feet. A man was walking towards her, his slight missteps more the product of confusion and exhaustion than pain. There was a halt when they spotted each other and the man's confusion just increased.</p><p>Dean Winchester stared at his mother. He had seen her face briefly on shapeshifters and in djinn-induced dreams. He had met her ghost. This figure was dressed in the white nightgown she had died in, so he wasn't sure what to expect.</p><p>"Mom?"</p><p>Mary Winchester looked at Dean warily, and it hurt slightly, but he could barely feel it through the chaos of joy and confusion. </p><p>"I uh." He stammered, pushing his phone back into his pocket. He had been trying to get a signal to call his brother for the past hour. "Are you..really... really?"</p><p>She hesitated and even flinched a bit as he reached for her. But her timid posture dropped before he could touch her, and Dean was on the ground in less than a second, her bare foot holding his neck to the grass. </p><p>"Where am I? Who the hell are you?" </p><p>He had forgotten for a moment that she was almost as tough a hunter as he. Her nightgown and "mother-ness" had caught him off-guard. But her voice was firm, and he was pretty convinced this was actually Mary Winchester and not a monster wearing her face. They tended to play up her maternal side more. He hated that he knew that.</p><p>"I'm-I'm Dean. Winchester. I'm your son."</p><p>"No. My Dean is four years old." </p><p>A breath caught in Dean's throat. "I was when you died." Was this what Amara had meant? She had told him she was going to give him "what he needed most." Had she really given him his mother? Straight from the night she died.</p><p>Mary released him, gasping in horror. Dean approached her cautiously, reciting anything that came to mind about her to let her know this was real. </p><p>"Mom, listen to me. Your name is Mary Sandra Campbell, okay?" He held his arms out, silently pleading. "you were born December fifth, 1954, to Samuel and Deanna Campbell." She couldn't even look at him at first, but he kept talking. "Your father, he bounced around a lot for, uh, work, and you bounced right along with him, and you ended up in Lawrence, Kansas."</p><p>"How do you know all that?"</p><p>"Dad told me." She was calming down but seemed in shock, so he kept talking. </p><p>"March twenty-third, 1972. You walked out of a movie theater- 'Slaughterhouse-Five.' You loved it. And you bumped into a big marine, and you knocked him flat on his ass." </p><p>Dean had his parents' love story etched on his core. It was pulled together from the scraps his father would mutter into his whiskey over long nights and then told over and over again to himself and his brother. Their favorite bedtime story whispered back and forth in the dark in strange motel rooms. </p><p>"You were embarrassed," he continued, "and he laughed it off, said you could make it up to him with a cup of coffee. So you went to, uh, Mulroney's and you talked, and he was cute, and he knew the words to every Zeppelin song, so when he asked you for your number, you gave it to him, even though you knew your dad would be pissed. That was the night that- that you met-"</p><p>"John Winchester." She confirmed. This truth was clear in her mind, at least.</p><p>"August nineteenth, 1975, you were married... in Reno. Your idea. A few years later, I came along, then Sammy."</p><p>"And then I burned." She whispered.</p><p>There was no good response to that. Dean felt gutted at the words, even though he thought himself long past the pain of his mother's death.</p><p>"How long have I been gone?"</p><p>Dean swallowed hard. "33 years."</p><p>She hesitantly put her hand on his chest and whispered, "Dean."</p><p>Dean shut his eyes at the rush of emotion. "Hi, Mom."</p><p>She wrapped her arms around him, and it felt like... Dean didn't really have a good description. It felt like when hugging Sam after a miracle resurrection. It felt like hugging Cas when he found him in Purgatory. It felt like finding something impossible.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>It was just barely dawn, so Dean led Mary over to a bench near one of the woods' trails. He wrapped his jacket around her and took off his boots and put them on her too, though she protested.</p><p>"Mom, I'm fine. Please, just let me take care of you. We'll get you some clothes once it's light."</p><p>"Do you have any idea how I'm... alive?" She asked hesitantly.</p><p>Dean sat back with a sigh. "I don't know for sure, but I have a theory. It's uh... kind of complicated though." He didn't know where to start and ended up just blurting things out in a jumble. "So, I know about hunting and stuff. We all do. Dad figured it out after you died and raised Sam and me as hunters. And then way later, we found out you were raised as a hunter when we time traveled and met you, twice, actually. And we met your ghost once, too." Wow, he was way off-topic. </p><p>"But anyway, we've been dealing with this, um, entity, called the Darkness, who is basically God's sister. And I was out here alone because I was supposed to blow her up with a soul bomb. But then, she and God kind of made up, and I helped a bit. As thanks, she said she would give me something I needed, and I walked out of there and bam! There you are!"</p><p>He waited a moment, and she just looked at him in shock. Her eyes were a bit teary, too, so he tried to talk about something else.</p><p>"But, you know, things aren't all bad. We had dad, and then friends after he-" Oh, no, now she was crying.</p><p>"How did he die?"</p><p>Dean spoke stiffly around the emotions lodged in his throat. "He gave himself up for me."</p><p>She sniffled as she laughed sadly. "That sounds like John." It made Dean want to scream, but he pushed the feelings down like the professional repressor that he was. "And he was a hunter?" Mary continued to try and muddle through Dean's babble's explanation. "And he raised you and Sam to..."</p><p>"Yeah, he did." </p><p>Mary sniffed and wiped at her eyes. "And you said we'd met before when you traveled through time."</p><p>Dean nodded, "Twice." He was aware that this was all insane. "Your memory got wiped, so..."</p><p>"And I saw you when I was a ghost... which I don't remember either." She shook her head. "And God's...sister brought me back to life?"</p><p>"Pretty much." Dean swallowed hard. </p><p>It was strange looking at her. When traveling to the past, he had assumed that she had looked so much younger because she had <em>been</em> so much younger than his childhood memories of her. In his memories, she was firmly an adult, with old eyes and angelic blonde hair long down her back. But this woman. She was still young, not even out of her twenties. Her hair was blonde but messy and tangled from sleep. She had the strong muscles and cautious awareness of a hunter.</p><p>"It's a lot," he said. "And I know it's a lot. And I'll explain everything. I will. But right now, let's get out of here. Let's get you home." She smiled at him softly, and he nodded. "Come on, Mom."</p><p>They got out of the woods easily now that there was a path to follow and light to see by. Dean gave Mary his wallet to buy some clothes while he stole a car to get them back to Lebanon. Thankfully they were only a couple of hours away. </p><p>Dean felt like shock had settled in as his primary emotion. He couldn't even begin to process anything else. He and Mary barely even spoke on the drive, both reeling from the last few hours. They just sat quietly in the little sedan and listened to the radio. Dean made sure it was on an oldies station so that Mary wasn't bombarded with any of the horrible trash that millennials considered music. However, he had to admit a soft spot for Taylor Swift. The girl had a way with words.</p><p>They pulled up to the Men of Letter's base in good time. The sight of the bunker's ugly wall poking out of the hillside helped ease something in Dean's chest. Just 24 hours ago, he had been ready to die. Again. But suddenly, there seemed like there was some hope. Amara was gone, Chuck was gone. Lucifer was out there, but he was out of Cas. Sam was waiting for him and would be so excited to see Mom.</p><p>Maybe there was a little future for them.  </p><p>Dean closed the door behind them as Mary looked out over the main rooms of the bunker.</p><p>"You live here?" She said with surprise.</p><p>Dean stood at the balcony rail with pride, trying to see it again for the first time. The old fifties-style tech in the command consoles around the map room and the central table with its glowing map of the world. The stone steps up to the library level, and the wooden tables and shelves gleaming there. It was a beautiful place.</p><p>"Yeah, when we're not on the road." He told her nonchalantly. "It's an old Men of Letters bunker."</p><p>"Men of Letters?"</p><p>"Yeah."</p><p>"They're a myth." Mary protested as Dean led the way down the steps to the map room's main level, his boots loud on the metal. "An old hunter's story."</p><p>"Not so much," Dean replied. "New duds look good." He nodded at the clothes she had picked out at the store.</p><p>"Well, thanks." She chuckled. "It's better than walking around in that nightgown the rest-"</p><p>They both stopped dead at the bottom of the stairs. Bloody streaks marred the tiled floor. The hope Dean had been feeling began to drain away.</p><p>He pulled his gun and called out for Sam and Cas. The pillar dividing the map room from the library was stained with a bloody angel banishment sigil, and it made his stomach drop. He was turning to grab a second gun for Mary when he heard a crash from the direction of the kitchen. </p><p>"Dean?" A woman's voice called out, familiar but muffled.</p><p>The swirling confusion was back. He stalked towards the kitchen. His brain had him keeping his gun ready. He waved Mary into a sheltered corner as he passed her.</p><p>"Who is it? Sam?" It wasn't Sam's voice, but he called out anyway. There was an arch, and a couple of steps separated the map room from the hallway.</p><p>A red-topped blur burst into sight and froze at the sight of the gun. Dean was dropping the gun and pulling her into his arms instantly, even as his brain struggled to comprehend. She hugged him back just as tightly, babbling words he couldn't process right now. His stomach was in his throat, but he managed her name anyway.</p><p>"Charlie?"</p><p>"Dean! Oh my god. What's going on? I was dead, like full-on murdered, and then I wasn't, and I'm here in the bunker, but no one else is here, and there's blood and a banishment sigil, and Sam and Cas aren't answering their phones, and I don't know if you're still going crazy, and who's that?"</p><p>Dean followed Charlie's look over at his mom, who was staring at him and Charlie with obvious curiosity. He released her slowly and scratched the back of his head, trying to pull himself together. His mom was here. Charlie was here.</p><p>Sam and Cas were not here. Everything was upside down.</p><p>"Uh. So, Charlie, this is my mom. Mom, this is Charlie."</p><p>"<em>YOUR MOM??</em>" Charlie screeched and rushed at Mary, but stopped when the other woman flinched. Charlie let it go easily. She just grinned and waved her hands. "Wow, I can't believe I'm meeting the mythical Mary Winchester!" She tilted her head and commented, "I thought you'd be older, for some reason."</p><p>Dean realized with a strange additional surprise that the two women were indeed very close to the same age. Charlie was a year older, since his mom had died at twenty-nine and Charlie had died at thirty.</p><p>"Hi." Mary gave a reserved smile in return for Charlie's enthusiasm. "Are you a hunter too? And are you two..." She trailed off with a speculative eyebrow.</p><p>"Oh! NO!" Charlie laughed. "I mean yes, to the first, well I was, and then-"</p><p>The door above them squealed open, and Dean pushed the women into the hall behind him. Both were trained hunters and immediately went silent and wary. Footsteps pounded down the steps and into the map room.</p><p>Dean poked his head around the corner. A glimpse of tan trenchcoat released a band around his lungs, and he could suddenly breathe. He smiled before calling out to his friend. </p><p>"Cas!" He strode back out into the map room, and Mary and Charlie followed. Cas didn't even seem to notice them, his eyes locked on Dean.</p><p>"Dean?" Cas croaked out as he pulled the taller man into his arms. Dean relaxed into the embrace. Cas was a solid point in this insane day of miracles. Dean tried to slap him on the back casually but was worried it came off as comforting pats instead. Cas continued to question him, voice croaky with emotions. "You're alive? What about the bomb and the Darkness? What happened?" He managed to look past Dean. "Charlie?"</p><p>Charlie bounced from where she must have been waiting for Cas to finish hugging Dean and threw her arms around the angel. "Cas! I'm so glad you're ok! I saw the banishing sigil, and I was worried!" </p><p>It was a tangle of limbs before Dean managed to extract himself. He took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling, trying to keep all his emotions in check. These voices and embraces, from people he thought he had lost forever. He wasn't sure he had ever received as many hugs as he had in the past twenty-four hours between the goodbyes the evening before and the hellos today. </p><p>But Sam was missing. That needed to take priority. Sam was the center of Dean's entire universe, and even though he loved all these people dearly, Sam had to be found right now. </p><p>"Dean," Charlie said sharply. Dean's head shot up in concern. "Why did Cas come in asking how you're still alive and what happened to the bomb?" </p><p>"Uh..." Dean froze.</p><p>"And why did Charlie ask if you were still crazy?" Mary asked quietly.</p><p>"Ok, let's get all this straight. Cas, you know Charlie and vice versa. Charlie and Cas, this is Mary Winchester, my mom." Cas' eyes fixed on Dean's for a moment as that news sunk in, and Dean nodded back. "We will figure all the resurrection stuff out in a minute. Charlie..." Dean had to clear his throat, "died a couple of years ago. And at the time, I had a, uh, Mark, on me. And we got rid of it-"</p><p>"That's great!" Charlie exclaimed.</p><p>"Which released God's sister, the Darkness..." Dean finished.</p><p>Charlie paused mid-cheer. "That sounds... less-great."</p><p>"It was. So we had a soul bomb that I was going to take to blow her to bits," Dean tried to sum up the last day, "but then, she and God, who's Chuck, by the way, which is such a mindfuck, like buried the hatchet? And so they went on a road trip together to see the universe or whatever, but before she left, she was like, hey Dean, you're awesome. I'm gonna give you something special. And then I walked out into the woods, and bam, there's my fucking <em>MOM</em> just standing there in her nightgown. And I get her home, and there's you! So I'm just completely thrown now. I have no clue what's going on."</p><p>"Wow." Charlie sat quietly for a moment.</p><p>Dean turned to Cas, hoping to get some answers, "so what happened here? Where's Sam?  He's not answering his phone, there's blood on the floor. What's going on?</p><p>"I don't know." Cas broke the eye contact, looking guiltily around the room. "We came back here, and a woman was waiting for us. She blasted me away. I don't know who she was; I don't know what happened to Sam."</p><p>"The bunker's empty, so they've already left here," Charlie said. "When did this go down?"</p><p>"Two twelve am," Cas responded with typical accuracy.</p><p>Dean was happy to hand off computer duties, though he felt fairly competent at them now. "Charlie, there's a laptop in the library. Do your thing." She grinned and cracked her knuckles as she rushed up the steps. </p><p>"A woman? She was human? Not angel, not demon?" Dean questioned Cas further, and Mary's hand came up like she was in school.</p><p>"Yes, she was human," Cas replied before they both looked at Mary.</p><p>"Um, 'angel'?" She looked confused, and Dean remembered he hadn't caught her up on much in the few hours she had been alive.</p><p>"Oh, yeah, angels are real. Like him." He pointed to Cas, realizing he hadn't really finished introductions either. "Mom, this is Castiel," Dean said with a soft look at his friend. "He's an angel. You know, wings, harp-"</p><p>"-I don't have a harp," Cas interjected. "And I barely have wings."</p><p>Mary nodded like she was trying to accept all this new information. Dean laid a hand on Cas's shoulder in apology for bringing up the 'wings' situation.</p><p>"I'm very honored to meet you, though, Mary," Cas said quietly. "I'm so sorry Sam isn't here. I will find him."</p><p>"Hey," Dean squeezed the hand on Cas's shoulder, "We're going to do this together. We'll find him together."</p><p>"I got something!" Charlie called out, and the other three hurried up the stairs to join her. </p><p>"Is that a-a computer?" Mary stared at the laptop in shock.</p><p>"Yes," Cas responded dryly. "I don't trust them."</p><p>Charlie grinned up at him. "That's just because it's not your brand of magic, Constantine!"</p><p>Cas looked sideways at Dean, "Is that a name I should know?"</p><p>Charlie laughed and gestured at the laptop. "I'll explain the name later. I've got an SUV running a red light a few blocks from here at two twenty-one. License belongs to a British ex-pat named Jamie Ross."</p><p>"How did you do that?" Mary marveled, but Dean huffed.</p><p>"Even I can hack a traffic cam. What else do you have?"</p><p>Charlie smiled. She pulled up a video feed that showed a woman descending the steps of a private airplane. "Is that her?"</p><p>"Yes," Cas growled.</p><p>"OK, so I tracked Jamie Ross's credit cards, and his last stop was at an airport to pick up this woman. Tail numbers of the plane have a diplomatic registry."</p><p>"Which means?" Mary prompted.</p><p>"Which means," Dean groaned, "That the flight plans are sealed. Unless we want to hack the State Department."</p><p>"Which means," Charlie countered, "That I need a few more hours and some caffeine. Also, maybe some food." She grinned up at Cas. "Get me pork rinds!"</p><p>Cas nodded seriously. "I'll see what's in the kitchen."</p><p>Dean wrapped an arm around Charlie's thin shoulders and pressed a kiss into her hair. "I've missed you, kiddo. We'll talk later, ok?"</p><p>"Let's just get the big guy back, and then we can relax a bit. I can't wait to talk to your mom!" She shook her head in disbelief that Dean understood completely. "Oh my god. Also, I'm really glad you're better." She said with a smile.</p><p>Dean left her to work and backed up. Mary came with him, looking lost. They sat down at the map table together.</p><p>"A lot has changed, hasn't it?"</p><p>Dean gave a lopsided grin. "I can barely keep up with the gadgets these days myself. They change so fast. Give me a cassette player and an EMF reader any day."</p><p>Mary gave him a small smile in return but shook her head. "Not just with computers. You have people. A family of your own."</p><p>Dean's smile turned a bit sour. "Not usually. I'm reeling from today. Charlie died two years ago, and Cas... well, Cas isn't always around. Usually, Sam's the only thing I've got."</p><p>"You said that God's...sister...Amara said she was going to give you what you needed. And you thought she brought me back? Do you think she brought Charlie too?"</p><p>"I don't know what else could have or <em>would</em> have brought her back." Dean cleared his throat, and Mary looked at him carefully.</p><p>"She's important to you. Were you two..." Mary trailed off with a speculative lift of her eyebrow, and Dean laughed. </p><p>"No! Not like that. I love her, yeah, but she's like my baby sister. And I couldn't keep-" He swallowed and tried again, "I couldn't keep her safe before."</p><p>Dean watched as Cas returned with an armful of snacks and a bottle of soda for Charlie. The angel arranged them around the girl, and she laughed and patted his arm. </p><p>"All I want is to keep my family safe," Dean murmured. "But everyone keeps dying. I don't even know if this is real."</p><p>Mary looked at him closely. She seemed to see him for the first time, coming out of her confused fog. "Oh, Dean. I spent my life running from this, from hunting. And I got out. I never wanted this for you and Sam."</p><p>Dean nodded, not sure what to say to that.</p><p>Cas joined them, bringing a round of Dean's favorite beers. They settled in to wait for Charlie's results.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hi, this is my first time actually putting work up here, though I read... a lot. So many. I needed to write fix-it fic after the finale though, and just take the characters and give them happier stories. A lot of this is going to be just giving them a way out of horrible situations, so there will be a lot of deliberately anticlimatic situations. I chose season 12 for a couple of reasons. Mainly, that was the last season I watched before I gave up on the show, though I did catch up before the finale. I just also want Jack to be in the story, and so I needed to kind of have the Lucifer story already going full steam. My characters tend to do whatever they want, so I had to start where they couldn't actually stop Lucifer before Jack was conceived.  Anyways, thanks for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Mamma Mia (i could never let you go)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Very loosely follows the events of episode two of season 12. But Charlie makes things faster and so they have to approach the situation differently.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Also, I had my first run-in with a fully crowded Impala. That's gonna happen a lot, guys. I've started writing chapter five, and it has happened, I think, every chapter since this one. I'm seriously considering buying Dean this van: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/30/45/37/3045379c45de0885f03e957caccf3cbe.jpg</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a few hours past noon before Dean got his mind settled enough to scrounge up lunch for everyone. He spent almost half an hour in the kitchen, making sandwiches for his mother and Charlie. Cas wouldn't eat anything, but the humans were getting hungry. Dean wanted to impress his mom, so he very carefully made sub sandwiches with actual vegetables thanks to Sammy's healthy shopping, with extra carrots and ranch for dipping. Girls liked that kind of thing, right? And moms, especially. It would be good to show his mom there was more than pork rinds and beer in their kitchen, even if Dean rarely ate any of it.</p><p>He spread out the food for Charlie and Mary, and Cas helped bring everyone drinks. It was a strange state of limbo, where he ached to be searching for Sam, but also just to be talking to Mary and Charlie. </p><p>Thankfully, Charlie didn't keep him waiting for long. </p><p>"Who's the Queen?" Her shout made Mary and Dean jump in surprise. They put the last of their food down and joined the other two in the library. </p><p>"What did you find?" </p><p>"Ok, so the plane was registered to," Charlie put on a fake accent, "a Lady Toni Bevell. Super hot but also, like, stupidly posh. Anyway, I managed to dig up financial's and got a rental payment for a farm in Aldrich, Missouri."</p><p>"Do we have any idea why this British lady wanted Sam?"</p><p>"Um, no. Financial documents don't monologue. I just know who and where." </p><p>"Ok." Dean centered himself. There wasn't much he could do as far as planning went. "Well, we don't know what we're walking into. So I will go-"</p><p>"What the-"</p><p>"Dean-"</p><p>"Excuse me-"</p><p>All three interrupted him and then paused to look at each other. Cas gestured to Mary to lead the protest. </p><p>"We never know what we're walking into. We're hunters." The other two nodded in agreement and looked to Dean for the inevitable rebuttal. It came as expected.</p><p>"Ok, look. I can't do my job if I'm worried about you." He looked at each of them seriously.</p><p>Mary smiled dryly. "Dean. You won't have to be."</p><p>Charlie grinned and clapped her hands together. "Ok, good talk!" And the three of them strode off to collect their supplies, leaving Dean at a loss as to how he had so little control over this situation. </p><p>"Oh, boy." He had honestly thought that he had a good argument there. He had lost all three of them before and wasn't willing to lose them again. Sure, backup was important, but so was protecting your family.</p><p>"Hey, Dean?" Charlie had come back without his noticing, tucking a gun into the back waistband of her jeans. "If you dare start thinking Mary and I can't keep up-"</p><p>"Whoa-"</p><p>"Because I've heard stories about her. And she can hold her own. And yeah, I lost last time, but this is a new day. Don't you dare start getting sexist on me again."</p><p>"Hey, I-" Dean really didn't have a good comeback for that. Truthfully, if it had just been Cas, he probably wouldn't have hesitated. But there was a holy quality to his mother that even God had lost in Dean's eyes. Mary was to be cherished, and Charlie was to be protected. He and Sam and Cas were the sullied ones, stained with bad choices and consequences. They should do the fighting.</p><p>Charlie seemed to have decided she had won the argument, as she had moved on to guiding Mary towards the garage. Dean tried to give Cas a dubious look to share his discomfort at the situation, but Cas was avoiding eye contact again. </p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Baby sat shining in the center of the garage. Mary stood stunned at the threshold while Cas and Charlie went around to the trunk to check their ammunition levels.</p><p>"Mom?" Dean called softly. He felt huge and clumsy like he would smash something delicate if he made the wrong move. Everything she did seemed important and miraculous, and he was so scared of messing this up. </p><p>She walked quietly over to the Impala, gazing at it lovingly. Dean relaxed.</p><p>"This was John's car. Oh, she's still beautiful."</p><p>Dean smiled. "Hell, yeah, she is." He tossed a smirk at Cas, who rolled his eyes over the raised trunk lid.</p><p>Mary leaned in the back window and spoke gently to the car. "Hi, sweetheart. Remember me?" Dean bent down as well to look at the car with her. She seemed lost in memories, gazing at the leather seats. Her smile twisted into a smirk of her own.</p><p>"Oh." Dean was hit with extremely unwanted ideas of what his parents might have done in the backseat of his beloved Baby. He straightened up and caught Charlie's eyes. She seemed to have picked up the same vibes he was, but instead of feeling slightly queasy, she was holding both hands over her mouth to keep her giggles inside. He swallowed and broke eye contact, blushing out of prudish embarrassment he hadn't thought he possessed any more. "We should go."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>It was a six-hour drive to Aldrich, Missouri. That wasn't even a long drive by Dean's standards, but ninety-five percent of his cross-country drives were with Sam. They had routines and habits, and they had long ago settled into silent companionship. Even when Cas joined them, it didn't change much since he didn't eat, sleep, or use the bathroom. </p><p>But driving with Cas, Charlie and Mary was a very different experience than driving with Sam. Mary and Cas started in the backseat. Dean's mom was withdrawn, and Cas was quiet. Charlie chatted in the front seat and made Dean explain how he had finally gotten rid of the Mark of Cain with questionably helpful interjections by Cas. Dean kept shooting death glares to the backseat to shut the angel up when he tried to include trivial aspects of the last few years such as Dean dying, or becoming a demon, or killing Death, or kissing God's sister, or any of those pesky little truths one would really rather not tell one's mom less than 24 hours after her resurrection.</p><p>He knew she would eventually learn the ugly truth. He wasn't that innocent child anymore, and he wasn't someone worthy of her love. Dean shoved the thoughts back into the overflowing trunk in his mind he tried to keep those truths locked in. </p><p>Eventually, Cas dropped the quiet, guilty angel attitude he had been wearing like a second trench coat and began glaring back at Dean.</p><p>"And <em>then</em>-" Cas continued  determinedly over Dean's latest objections, "Dean decided he should be the one to carry Rowena's soul bomb and sacrifice himself<em> again</em>." </p><p>"Ok, you're all caught up now. Happy?" Dean was tempted to fire back about Cas's own choices but didn't want him to shrink back into his shell. </p><p>"Yes," Charlie said. "I mean, am I thrilled you've teamed up with Crowley and <em>Rowena</em> again? No. But I am happy to be pretty much caught up. I mean, I'm guessing there's more icky details in there somewhere, but I've got the broad strokes."</p><p>Night fell, and they stopped at a gas station and filled up on fuel and snacks. A seat shuffling had Cas and Charlie in the back this time and Mary sitting shotgun. Everyone offered to take a turn driving, but Dean needed this small bit of control over their safety. They seemed to understand, and none of them pushed, though Cas looked at him sternly.</p><p>Within twenty minutes, Charlie was asleep, slumped onto Cas's shoulder. The angel was staring out into the dark sky. Dean looked at them in the rearview mirror and then at Mary beside him. He sighed and shook his head.</p><p>"I can't believe I let you talk me into this."</p><p>She gave him a small smile. "I'm your mother. You have to do what I say." She paused, and he thought she might lapse into silence again, but she spoke after a moment's hesitation. "Look, they targeted the bunker. Obviously, they know a lot about you and Sam. They'll be expecting you. I'm," she paused and gestured back towards Charlie, "we're the last thing they'd expect."</p><p>Dean sighed, not wanting to acknowledge the truth but also not wanting to shut her down. She was talking, and the feeling of holding something delicate had returned. "You were good at this, weren't you?"</p><p>"Very." There was another fragile pause, where he thought she might stop. "The thing is, hunters, no matter how good they are, they always end up the same."</p><p>Dean felt a very unfamiliar urge. He felt like sharing. Like talking about something real. That usually only happened when he and Sam had life-threatening secrets that needed to come out. But this was his mom. Surely he could talk to her? And maybe, even if he couldn't show her that he was worth loving, he could show her that Sam was. No matter how many mistakes Sam made, he was always worth loving.</p><p>"You know when you died, it changed Dad. I mean, he was Hell-bent on finding out what happened. The hunter life just took him over. I guess I was the same. But Sammy- Sammy, he was different. He wanted out. He went to school." Dean let the pride fill his voice that he never showed to his little brother. "He went to<em> Stanford</em>!"</p><p>"Sam had a chance to get out? And he came back?" She sounded incredulous.</p><p>"When Dad disappeared, Sam and I looked around, and something became very clear. The only thing we had in this world, the only thing, aside from this car, was each other."</p><p>The serious moment was broken by Charlie kicking the back of his seat.</p><p>"Excuse me, Dean Winchester!"</p><p>"Oh, of course." Cas's sarcastic muttering was not exactly under his breath. "Eight years of bleeding and dying by your side means nothing."</p><p>"I was only with you for a few years, but I was there, and I know a ton of other people were, too!" Charlie chimed in. "What about Bobby and Jody?" </p><p>Dean laughed despite himself and put an arm up to fend off the slaps Charlie was now raining on his shoulders. "Okay! Yes, we eventually started to find other people! Yes, Charlie! You know half of you died, right? Okay, ok! I get it! But at first, it was just us!" Charlie seemed appeased, and Dean glanced in the mirror at the huffy angel in the backseat. "And I'm sorry, Cas, I didn't mean to make you feel unappreciated. You know you're family." Cas glared at Dean in the mirror, but it was an easy glare. Dean couldn't break the stare until headlights flashed in front of him, and he had to jerk the steering wheel back into place.</p><p>Mary smiled at them, but it was still a quiet and reserved smile. Dean still felt afraid.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>It was still hours before dawn when they pulled up on the road near the farmhouse. Dean felt they were far enough not to be noticed still, especially in the dark. He turned off the car, and they all quietly got out, and the humans stretched their limbs. Dean opened the trunk and started handing out weapons. Mostly guns since the woman was supposedly human, but he made sure each of them had an angel blade on them as well in case of any surprises. Angel blades were probably the most versatile in the able-to-kill-stuff arena. </p><p>"Ok, we have no idea how many baddies or what they might be. We have no idea where Sam is. So we're going to go together towards the house and find a back way in. Then Cas and Charlie will clear upstairs, and Mom and I will clear the ground and basement levels. If there's a cellar entrance, Mom and I will take that. Everyone is going to get out of this mess safely. Do you all understand?"</p><p>They all nodded, and Charlie and Cas each put a hand on one of Dean's arms. Mary looked at him, kindly. Apparently, he was not keeping his anxiety about this job under wraps. He huffed and started walking across the road without waiting for more acknowledgment.</p><p>All four of them moved quietly through the untidy trees around the property. Even Charlie had picked up forestry skills in Oz. They were only a few yards from the house when Cas stopped them with a hand on Dean's shoulder.</p><p>"The house is warded. I can't go in there." He murmured. </p><p>Dean had to hold himself still, the urge to punch his fist into the tree almost overwhelming. Of course, this wouldn't be straightforward. His brain spun as he re-strategized.</p><p>"Alright. Mom or Charlie. What would you do? They are obviously expecting Cas and me."</p><p>"Or at least me, since Sam probably told them you're dead," Cas said thoughtfully.</p><p>"We could draw them out." Mary offered. "Cas, I don't really know what kind of power you have. Maybe you can throw something at the wards and set them off? Let them come towards you, and I can take them out?"</p><p>"If we can time it well, I can knock out their power, so it looks like Cas did. Then Dean and I can come in from the back and catch anyone waiting inside."</p><p>Dean and Cas looked at each other. It was a solid plan and better than the usual, "Let's go hit stuff" plan that they usually went with. It was still hard to let someone else take control, but Dean figured Mary was right. She was his mom, so he did have to listen to her.</p><p>"Alright. Fine. Charlie and I will head for the breaker. Cas, I'll need you to make some kind of visual impact, so we know when to cut the power. Then we'll head inside, and you guys will have to deal with anyone that comes out."</p><p>The plan went beautifully. Cas must have thrown everything he had at the wards because they lit up, flaring brightly against the walls of the farmhouse. Charlie shut the power off, and the few small lights inside the house went out as the wards dimmed. There were footsteps and hushed voices in the house, but fewer than the group had expected. </p><p>Dean and Charlie eased open the back door as they heard the front slam open. </p><p>They slipped in, and Dean took the lead, clearing one room at a time. He tried to shut out gunshots' sound from outside and just ignore everything besides the task in front of him. In the kitchen, there was a door that clearly led to a basement. He looked at Charlie, and she nodded. Basements were the obvious place to keep prisoners, after all. </p><p>Dean gently pushed Charlie against the wall beside the door and gestured for her to wait and cover him. He couldn't see her expression in the dark, but she gave him a thumbs up and readied her gun.</p><p>Opening the door to a pitch-black space was never a fun prospect. Dean figured coming into the basement gave up any element of a surprise anyway and flipped on his flashlight. </p><p>"So, you survived yet again, Mr. Winchester?" An arrogant British voice called up from the darkness. Dean moved his light to see the woman they had been following, her gun held to Sam's temple as he sat on a rough chair in the center of the room.</p><p>"Dean?" Sam gasped, "You're alive?"</p><p>Dean assessed Sam's condition quickly, used to triaging his brother by flashlight. Alive, thank Chuck. Obviously beaten, and the pale, sweaty skin and blue lips indicated he was in shock from some kind of trauma. </p><p>"I'm so happy you came. While Samuel here might be able to withstand my snapping apart his body joint by joint, will he still be so resistant when I do it to his brother?"</p><p>"Sorry," Dean replied. "I just dropped in for tea."</p><p>"Well, how about you put your gun down there and join us, then? I'm sure you don't want me blowing a hole through Sam's head now, do you?"</p><p>Dean let his shoulders slump and tilted his gun away as he stepped farther down into the basement, creaking the steps loudly. "Alright, I'm dropping it." </p><p>He bent over to drop the gun onto the floor but kept the light steady on Lady Bevell's face. A gunshot went off above his head, and the British woman dropped lifelessly to the floor. </p><p>Sam was gasping in confusion as Dean raced over to free him. "What, who? Is Cas up there?"</p><p>The chains were solid, and it took a moment of searching to find Lady Bevell's key. Dean shrugged in response to Sam's question. "Cas is up there somewhere. Do you know how many people there were?"</p><p>Sam seemed to struggle to focus his eyes on Dean. "Um, just one other that I saw. Another British chick."</p><p>Dean trusted Charlie to keep watch and give him a warning if he needed to fight more, so he focused on Sam. He unlocked the cuffs around Sam's wrists and ankles, noting the serious burns on his feet. He picked his giant, shaking, baby brother up.</p><p>"I promise to explain everything later. Just stay as quiet as you can until we're clear, okay?"</p><p>He felt Sam nod against his shoulder.</p><p>"Ok, Charlie, come grab my gun and light and let's get out." Sam's arms tightened as he tried to understand and see who Dean was talking to, but the flashlight was on the ground, and he obediently kept his mouth closed. </p><p>Charlie led the way this time, keeping the flashlight on so Dean wouldn't trip while carrying his moose of a brother. She kept her gun out, but they didn't hear anything. As soon as they were free of the house, they broke into a jog, and Charlie called out in a stage whisper, "Cas?" </p><p>Cas and Mary appeared from the trees near them and tugged the bunch into a tangled hug. Dean could feel Sam shaking badly.</p><p>"Are we safe? Is there anyone else?"</p><p>"Only one woman came out to confront us," Cas reported, one hand on Sam to assess his state. "Mary dispatched her quickly, and then we waited for you. We decided to wait a bit before splitting up and coming after you." His glare at Mary was familiar. Dean had seen it a million times and knew without asking that Cas had stopped her from coming into the farmhouse alone. He gave the angel a grateful look. </p><p>"Can you do anything for Sam? He's pretty messed up." </p><p>"I spent a lot of power on the wards. I can stop the shock and stabilize him, but I will have to rest before I can heal his wounds."</p><p>"That's fine, Cas," Dean said, then worried he sounded too abrupt and was thankful when Charlie backed him up.</p><p>"Just do what you can. You gotta let your manna recharge, dude."</p><p>Dean set Sam down on the grass. His brother was staring at Mary in awe, his eyes occasionally flickering over to Charlie with a similar look.</p><p>"Am I dead, then? Dean, did we both die?" </p><p>"No, way, Sammy. We're all good. Cas is going to get you settled, and then we're going to drive home, and I'll tell you all about the crazy last two days."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>The drive back was a bit crowded. Cas convinced Dean to let him drive before Dean "killed them all out by passing out at the wheel." So Charlie squished into the backseat beside the large brothers and let Mary have the front seat. The entire back was asleep within a half-hour and slept the whole drive.</p><p>The family stumbled into the bunker close to noon. Mary brought the bags of takeout that they had picked up in Lebanon. Cas and Dean carried Sam, and Charlie followed with an assortment of weapons and leftover snacks.</p><p>They all settled on the map room without discussion. Mary and Charlie dumped their loads across the table, and Dean and Cas settled Sam into a chair with a bit more grace. </p><p>Cas hesitated and then began moving towards the door. "I'll just leave you to eat together-" But Charlie and Dean each had an elbow and were dragging him to a chair before he could finish the sentence.</p><p>"We are having a family dinner," Dean stated. He looked around at the four people that meant the most to him on the planet. "We are going to sit together, and no one is scampering off!" He locked glares with Cas. The angel softened first and nodded.</p><p>Dean smiled and clapped his hands. "I'll go get the beers."</p><p>The meal was loud as everyone tried to explain the last forty-eight hours to each other. God and Amara just leaving, multiple resurrections, the chaos of finding Sam, and then his surprisingly easy rescue.</p><p>"Dude, we've spent the last few years fighting all of Heaven and Hell and primordial Darkness. And they're like, well, but we're British." Dean laughed at Sam's mocking accent. Sam seemed whole if still hurting. As he'd mentioned, he'd been tortured by far worse than an accent in a pantsuit, and he was rebounding well from the trauma.</p><p>"Oh my god, they're trying to colonize the hunters!" Charlie exclaimed. "That's like the most classic of British moves."</p><p>"We should call the Internet and find out what we can about these people," Mary spoke up, and Charlie just put her head down on the table, shoulders shaking with silent laughter. "Did I say that right?"</p><p>Dean grinned at her. "So close." He saw her begin to withdraw and held a hand out. "Mom, this meal is fantastic. Thank you."</p><p>She smiled and chuckled from where she was gathering used napkins and straw wrappers into a spare bag. "All I did was point at some stuff on a take-out menu. I would've cooked, but I uh...don't."</p><p>Dean turned in his chair to face her more directly. "Now wait, your meatloaf was amazing."</p><p>She smiled at him and leaned in. "Came from the Piggly Wiggly. Sorry to burst your bubble."  She leaned back and gestured to a bag that hadn't been opened yet. "But do you still like pie?"</p><p>He laughed and reached out to grab the bag. "I mean..."</p><p>"No!" Charlie yelled and dragged the bag back. "Everyone else gets a piece first! Then you get the rest. Or no one else will get any. I know your tricks." Dean grinned and held up his fork, ready to just dig in. "Mary! You have to cut it! He'll eat it all!"</p><p>Mary laughed and smacked Dean's fingers as he reached for the bag again. "We'll cut the pie."</p><p>Cas ended up as the designated pie cutter since he could make the most precisely even slices. Dean and Charlie hovered nearby with their plates, but Dean watched as his brother and mother stared at each other.</p><p>Sam had been watching Mary almost constantly since he'd woken up in the car. Dean wasn't sure Sam really believed this was all real. Hell, Dean himself didn't really believe it. His brother gave their mom a hesitant smile.</p><p>"Sam." She said quietly. "You keep looking at me like I'm going to explode."</p><p>"I'm sorry," Sam laughed quietly.<br/> <br/>Cas and Charlie set pie plates in front of each of them, and they looked away from each other. Dean felt that fragile thing in his chest. He didn't know if this was good or bad, the way they were acting. He took his own plate, where Cas had placed two of the slices of pie, and dug a huge bite out with his fork. </p><p>After a couple more inhales of pie, Dean noticed his mom staring at him. "Could you eat that any faster?" She asked.</p><p>"No," he said defensively around his current mouthful of pie. "No, I cannot." </p><p>Mary smiled at him, and the fear eased just a little bit.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Interlude - Grief</strong>
</p><p>Someone knocked on the door of Mary's assigned bedroom. </p><p>"Yes?" She called out.</p><p>Sam stepped in, taller than she would have ever imagined her baby could grow. "Hey," he said quietly.</p><p>"Hi."</p><p>"Sorry, I hope I didn't wake you up. I-I uh, wanted to bring you this." He placed a cup of tea on the desk in front of her and back away quickly. He was even more hesitant and careful than Dean was, and Mary felt guilty that she was making them so nervous. </p><p>"Thank you."</p><p>"You're welcome. I don't know if you drink tea, but..."</p><p>"I do."</p><p>"Good." He hesitated, hands shoved in his pockets. "Uh, and I wanted to say... if you ever want to talk, I know what it's like to come back and not feel like you really fit."</p><p>His smile was so shy. He reminded her so much of John when they first met, sweet and nervous. She looked down at her hands and the ring still in its place on her left hand. "I just have so much about you boys to catch up on. Mother stuff. You know," she stood, forcing herself to talk around the lump in her throat, "first tooth, first crush."</p><p>"Yeah," Sam laughed roughly.</p><p>"I just have a lot of blanks to fill in."</p><p>"Right, uh," He pulled a leather journal out from where he had been holding it tucked under one arm. "Dad's journal." He handed it to her. "His writing, his words. It helped fill in some blanks for me, answer some questions I didn't know I had. And you know, it- it- it keeps him with us, sort of."</p><p>"Thank you." </p><p>"Good night."</p><p>She spoke before he could back out of the room. "Dean said you got out of hunting."</p><p>"Yeah"</p><p>"And yet, here you are."</p><p>"Well, this is my family. My family hunts, you know? It's what we do." He shrugged and seemed finished. Mary nodded and turned to set the journal on the desk when he spoke again. "Mom? For me, just um... having you here fills in the biggest blank."</p><p>Mary pulled him into her arms and held him for a moment before letting him leave. He closed the door quietly, and she sat to look through the pages of  John's journal. She touched the photos quietly and ran her fingers along the familiar handwriting. The pain of losing John was sharp and fresh. He should have been here to see this family. </p><p>As she turned a page, a picture slipped out from between the pages. It was a photo of her and the boys, taken just a few weeks before her death. </p><p>The grief ripped through Mary's chest like a bullet. It felt like her lungs would cave in. She made it to the bed and pulled a pillow against herself as the sobs shook her body. </p><p>She knew, in her mind, that her sons were out there, just yards away. But there was a phantom weight on her chest and shoulder where her baby should lie, and a hollow at her side where her little boy should snuggle in. These huge men with their flannel and gruff voices and nervous manners were strangers. She didn't know them. </p><p>Sammy was supposed to be an infant who laughed at tummy raspberries and struggled to sit upright. He was supposed to be laughing at his brother's silly faces and napping on Mary's shoulder as she tried to fold laundry with one hand.</p><p>The pain had a physical edge to it as well. Her breasts were swollen and painful from the unused milk. Amara or the Darkness or whoever had resurrected her exactly as she had been when she had died, which included being the nursing mother of a six-month-old. She had stuck sanitary pads, picked up with the clothes while Dean had been stealing a car, into her bra to keep the leaks from showing so the others wouldn't ask questions. But her body ached for a baby that she would never hold again.</p><p>And Dean.</p><p>Her body grieved most for her baby, but her heart ached most for her small son. <em>What happened to dinosaurs and teddy bears and wanting to be a fireman?</em> Dean had been her entire world, even when Sammy came along and he had to share her energy and love. Her days were scheduled around his meals and nap and bedtime; his thirty minutes of Barney her one chance to go to the bathroom alone.  He was old now. Older than she was, even. And he was so much like her father. Stoic and hard, worn down by a life of hunting.</p><p>Four years with Dean wasn't enough. Six months with Sammy wasn't enough. She should have been there, gotten to see all those little steps that turned those tiny soft bodies into these big broken men.</p><p>Eventually, her body was too tired to sob, and she just lay there, clutching an old picture of two small boys to her chest as the tears fell and her soul mourned for the time and the memories she would never get.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Interestingly, the lyric extension of the chapter title works for both the song Mamma Mia and Bohemian Rhapsody :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Foundry (n.  a vessel for holding molten metal)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Everybody gets breakfast, and then Cas and Charlie team up to look for Lucifer while the Winchesters go on a family hunting trip.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ok, I've got these three chapters up, and I'm working on editing the 4th and writing the 5th right now. I'm hoping for a weekly update schedule right now. The chapters are getting much longer. Chapter 4 got out of control and is 10,000 words right now. I hope to update on Thursdays for Cas because I'm a goof. Maybe after the holidays, I can update more often, but we'll see. I have no clue how long this is going to be, I'm sorry. Have fun!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dean woke up sharply in his own bed, the room's darkness only adding to the untethered feeling left from his dreams. He reached over to the end table and grabbed his phone, switching on the lamp as he did so. It was four in the morning, so he was pretty pleased with the hours of sleep he had managed. </p><p>After getting a shower and clean clothes, Dean decided to start on breakfast. His mom might not cook much, but Dean had a few dishes he felt solid with. Bacon, in this case. While he heated the oil, started the coffee, and laid out cereal and bread on the table. He wasn't sure what everyone would want to eat or how long they would sleep. Cold bacon still tasted good, though, and the other things would be fine whenever.</p><p>Sam stumbled in soon after the bacon was finished. Dean looked him over, but his brother seemed well enough, so he gave him a "seriously?" for walking on his burned feet, even bandaged and in slippers. Hopefully, Cas would be strong enough to heal him soon. Dean got out the milk and jam and settled in to eat.</p><p>"You still look exhausted.  So what have you found on Her Majesty's Secret Suckbags?" Dean asked, assuming Sam would have stayed up late doing research, wounded or not. </p><p>"Well, I may have turned the bunker upside down looking for any reference whatsoever to the British Men of Letters, and all I found was this letter tucked into an old ledger, uh, from the 'London Chapterhouse.'" Apparently, Dean's assumption had been right.</p><p>"Sammy," he groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "You have to get some sleep at some point."</p><p>Sam looked up at him with surprise but continued talking about what he had found. "It's uh, not so much." He held up a typed letter, the majority of which was blacked out or covered in red stamps.</p><p>"Awesome," Dean sighed, then looked up as Cas stepped into the doorway. Cas looked the same as always. The striped tie he wore these days and the newer, less impressive, trenchcoat. It wasn't as dramatic and billowy as the old one, Dean thought nostalgically. "Morning, sunshine. Want some coffee?"</p><p>"No, thank you-" Cas was cut off as Charlie bumped past him, still wearing her robe and pajamas. The women had gone out for a wardrobe run the evening before since they'd each come back from the dead with only the clothes they had died in.</p><p>"Yes, please give me coffee." She dropped onto the stool next to Sam and stole Dean's cup. He tried to get it back, but her thin fingers had it in a vice grip. </p><p>"I have to go." Cas blurted out and turned away from the kitchen.</p><p>Dean left off trying to retrieve his coffee and stood up. "Wait a second!" He noticed Charlie grab Sam's arm so he couldn't join Dean as he followed Cas. "Cas, wait up."</p><p>He grabbed Cas's arm and stopped him as he stepped up into the map room. "Hey, where are you going?"</p><p>Cas sighed. "Cleveland, Ohio."</p><p>Dean froze. "What? Why?"</p><p>"I think I may have a lead on Lucifer. I found a police report in Cleveland about a man whose eyes flared a glowing red." He spread his arms in a shrug. "It could be Lucifer in a new body."</p><p>Dean nodded up at Cas from the lower step. "All right. Yeah, sure, that sounds like something. We should check it out."</p><p>"No." Cas' tone was sharp. "The Devil is free because of me. Finding him is my responsibility."</p><p>The guilty tone was familiar. It felt like those months after the Leviathans, after Purgatory. When Cas was trying to do anything he could to atone for his sins. "You can't take him alone."</p><p>"If it is him, I will call you," Cas said stiffly. "In the meantime," he tilted his head, meaningfully, "I think you're needed here."</p><p>He turned, and Dean grabbed his shoulder. "Hey! What the hell does that mean?" Dean asked defensively.</p><p>Cas sighed, clearly wanting just to leave. "Your mother. She was awake last night, and...spoke to me." </p><p>"What did she say?" His voice cracked a bit, and Cas looked at him closely.</p><p>Cas sighed again and leaned back against the stair rail. Dean released him now, satisfied the angel wasn't going to run. "She doesn't seem to feel like she fits here. Like she belongs."</p><p>"She just needs a little family time," Dean argued. "A bit of R&amp;R, she'll be aces." Cas just gave him a sardonic look. Dean dropped his head and rubbed the back of his neck. He sighed heavily and nodded. "Ok, then let's go sit down; talk to Sam. We will figure out how to help her <em>and</em> how to look for Lucifer."</p><p>Another long look, then Cas relented and followed Dean back to the kitchen. Sam seemed surprised to see Cas return but smiled in welcome. "Cas has a lead on Lucifer, but he's worried about Mom." Dean filled the others in. Charlie had made her own coffee, but Dean's mug was empty now, so he made some for himself and Cas. </p><p>"I heard her walking around all night last night." Sam agreed. "I think she seems a bit...withdrawn. You know... shaky?"</p><p>Charlie poked at her cereal distractedly. Apparently, the caffeine had yet to kick in. "Well, how about I go with Cas for backup, and you three stay here for family bonding time? We can keep you updated and come back here once we have some news."</p><p>Dean was nodding, more comfortable with this plan. Even if Charlie wasn't the strongest of hunters, she had a good set of brains, and he trusted her to keep Cas from disappearing on his own quest again. He stared pointedly at Cas until the angel sighed and nodded as well.</p><p>They all quietly drank their coffee until Mary came in, looking fresh despite her reported insomnia. There was a quiet round of greetings, and she reached eagerly for the bacon.</p><p>"We can fry up some more! "Sam tried to stop her. "That's- that's probably cold by now, Mom."</p><p>She gave him a confused look as she took a bite. "It's <em>bacon</em>."</p><p>Dean grinned, "Wow, we are so related." </p><p>Sam looked at Mary curiously. "Did you cut your hair?"</p><p>The entire table tilted their heads to stare at the cropped blonde hair. Mary shifted uncomfortably. "I'm gonna keep it short if I'm gonna go out on a hunt, you know? Why give the bad guys the advantage of long, pullable hair?"</p><p>"Wow," Dean said, taking the response at face value, "I've been trying to tell Sam that for years." Then he noticed Charlie looking at Mary with compassion, and the women exchanged some kind of understanding look. </p><p>"I'll even out the back for you, Mary. A new 'do is a great way to start a new chapter, isn't it? I've been thinking about growing mine out, actually!"</p><p>"Wait," Sam spoke up, "Did you say, uh, 'going out on a hunt?'"</p><p>Their mother's smile was sheepish. "I found a case."</p><p>"I thought you were still struggling with even the idea of the internet?" Sam exclaimed.</p><p>Mary chuckled and shook her head. "Oh, no, I had Charlie get me some newspapers while we were shopping yesterday."</p><p>The boys all turned to look at Charlie, who waved them off unrepentantly. "She didn't tell me she was looking for a case." All eyes swung back to Mary, who ducked her head. </p><p>"I wasn't! I just...found one." She said defensively. "Minnesota. Two dead, locked room. Victims had put in a call about a crying baby. But the place was empty. The only thing at the scene was their bodies. Been five days, and the coroner still hasn't put out a cause of death." She shrugged and took another bite of bacon. "Seemed fishy."</p><p>Dean nodded thoughtfully. </p><p>"It's probably nothing," Mary started to backtrack her enthusiasm. "I just thought I might...get out there, stretch my legs."</p><p>"I-I thought you weren't down to hunt in the first place?" Sam said with confusion.</p><p>"Well, things change, don't they?" Dean looked around the group. Mary was still standing at the end of the table. Charlie and Sam had the stools on one side of the table, and Cas had joined Dean on the other. He would prefer they all stayed together and in this safe place, but that wasn't how the Winchesters worked. "Alright. Cas and Charlie are going to Ohio, and the three of us will go to Michigan. Family hunting trip?" </p><p>Sam looked unsure, and Mary hesitant, but she nodded. "Sure."</p><p>"Ok. Winchesters meet at the car in ten. Cas and Charlie, I expect regular updates and," he made sure they were both looking at him, "you will not try to take on Lucifer without backup. Do you understand?"</p><p>Charlie grinned, and Cas grumbled something about having lead Heaven's armies before, but Dean ignored it.</p><p>"Um, aren't we forgetting a few things?" Charlie called as everyone started to scatter, and they all froze.</p><p>She sighed as they looked at her blankly. Ticking off her fingers, she counted, "One, Sam still needs healing. Two, Mary needs a tiny bit of 21st Century 101. I spent all night trying just to find out what I needed to learn to be close to as good as I used to be. Two years is a long time in tech years, and thirty is just mind-boggling. And three," she looked around the table, now piled with food scraps and dirty dishes, "we should probably clean up." She turned back to her plate and took a bite of toast as the other four looked at each other in surprise.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>It only took a moment for Cas to heal Sam now that he was rested, and with five of them, the cleanup went quickly. Charlie tried to teach Mary a little about modern technology but turned out to be a terrible teacher as she kept tangent-ing. Sam took over after seeing his mom look like a deer about to be hit by a semi as Charlie started on a completely unhelpful rant about Atari. Cas and Dean went to look over the truck Cas had stolen to get to Lebanon and determine if it was road-ready. </p><p>Mary didn't need to understand programming or hacking, just user systems. </p><p>"You know, it's probably not as hard, tech-wise, to be dropped in twenty-sixteen rather than like the nineties," Charlie commented as they loaded the truck. "I might not like using Apple stuff, but with an iPhone and iPad, she only has to learn a touch screen and one UI. No keys or code. Just web search and email and text, and she'll be fine. Boring, but fine." Dean slapped at her shoulder, and Charlie laughed. </p><p>Cas stood ready by the driver's side. Dean hugged Charlie goodbye and came around. </p><p>"Hey." Dean put a hand on Cas' shoulder, and Cas seemed to lose his frozen attitude for a moment. He pulled Dean into a quick hug. "Hey, it's ok." Dean patted his back. "Just don't run off. We'll fix this mess together, okay?" </p><p>Cas nodded and then climbed into the truck. With a wave, they pulled out of the garage.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Sam, Dean, and Mary left soon after the other group.  </p><p>They had listened to Charlie's recommendations about technology. Sam had dug up an older iPhone that Dean used as one of his other, other numbers until they could get her onto the friends and family plan the brothers had succumbed to buying, and Dean had also found an iPad that they had stolen from somewhere. </p><p>At the gas station in Lebanon, Dean got snacks while Sam filled the car with gas. Mary was settled in the front seat, fiddling with her settings as every human does when given a new phone. Walking back to the car, he noticed a gleaming black motorcycle parked beside the convenience store and gave it an appreciative glance. "Nice bike," he commented to no one in particular.</p><p>Climbing back into the car, he started to expound on the virtues of modern junk food. Sam was still filling the Impala's massive gas tank that would be empty again far too soon. Passing over the chili lime jerky to his mom, he gave her a small smile. She seemed happy with the snacks, but honestly, he had no idea what she really liked to eat. He was pretty sure she had given him the same pleased smile when he had shared mud cakes with her as a kid. Most of his brain wanted just to spread out his whole heart in front of her and just say,<em> Mom, look at these things I love. Aren't they awesome?</em></p><p>Sam had climbed into the backseat, and he gave a disgusted sigh at Dean's snack enthusiasm. As Dean started the car, the radio came on, and "Born to be Wild" blasted out. Another sigh from Sam and a flick on his shoulder as Sam urged him to turn the music down. Instead, Mary reached over and raised the volume further. </p><p>Dean raised his eyebrows at his mom and felt a warmth in his chest. He was good at defending his chosen interests and pushing his enthusiasm out despite Sam's protests, but it felt good to be backed up. He pealed the car out of the lot. </p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Their first stop in Minnesota was at the morgue. As usual. They had changed into their suits at the last rest stop, and Mary led the way into the autopsy room.</p><p>"Agent Shirley Partridge, out of the Minneapolis field office. These are my partners, Agent Cassidy and Agent Bonaduce."</p><p>"Uh, ok," the coroner hesitated. "This is a local case. Why would the FBI be interested-"</p><p>"They're new," Mary stated confidently. "Wanted their first case to have training wheels." The coroner looked slightly confused, and Dean tried to make his face as innocent as possible. It was clear he was almost a decade older than Mary, and he wasn't sure why she had gone with that story, but they would back her up. "We wanted to have a look at the bodies."</p><p>"Now, you haven't filed a report." Sam stepped up to help as Dean moved around to look at the body on the autopsy table. "Has there been any problem determining the cause of death?"</p><p>"Problem? No. No, no, no, I figured out the cause. Just doesn't make any damn sense." </p><p>Dean raised the corner of the sheet as the coroner stammered on. A purple handprint seemed burned onto the corpse's arm.</p><p>"Is this a burn?"</p><p>"Frostbite. Yeah. Both victims died of acute hypothermia. In a 65-degree room. When I opened them up, their hearts were literally, and I mean literally, frozen." The thin man took a deep breath. "Want to tell me how to present that to the public? Or to their families?" He looked back at Mary. "So much for training wheels, huh?"</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>They still had about an hour before sunset, so they decided to take a peek at the house in question. Dean handed out EMF readers and flashlights from the trunk, and the three stepped into the crumbling house. </p><p>"You sure you got the swing of that thing?" Dean nodded his head at Mary's EMF reader. It was kind of a moot point since all three readers had completely lit up before the door had even closed behind them. This house was very clearly haunted.</p><p>"For the third time, yes," Mary assured.  "Dean, it's analog. I'm good." </p><p>"Right." Dean felt a bit guilty for doubting her, but he was just generally nervous about bringing her somewhere dangerous.</p><p>The wailing of the EMF made it difficult to hear anything else. Dean and Sam fell into their usual house clearing pattern, and Mary went in a different direction. Dean hated it but let it go. The whole place was creepy as hell. Broken toys and squatters' trash. </p><p>Dean was turning to leave the first room when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He put the EMF in his pocket and pulled out his phone. With the camera pointed over at the corner of the room, he could see three floating specks of light. Sam was looking over his shoulder and nodded.</p><p>"Ghost orbs," Dean muttered and put the phone back in his pocket, "Mom, we got something over here."</p><p>There was a slamming sound, and Dean and Sam looked up.</p><p>"Sam?" Mary called.</p><p>"Mom?" Dean called back, pulling out his crowbar to fend off any ghosts. He kicked himself for letting her go off alone.</p><p>"Dean?" She called again, her voice muffled behind one of the bedroom doors.</p><p>Dean kept calling out to her as he yanked uselessly at the door. She was still calling for them, too, so at least she was alive, for now.</p><p>Pounding on the door and slamming into it were equally useless. Sam tried to reassure Mary. In his panic, it took Dean a moment to remember the iron crowbar he had brought as a weapon and begin to pry at the seams of the door.</p><p>"Mom, get away from the door!" The pounding on the other side stopped, and Dean wrenched the door from the frame. </p><p>A pathetic little figure was holding onto Mary's arm, but Sam pulled her free. Ghost kids were the freakiest, Dean thought as he swung the iron bar through the small apparition. </p><p>"Mom, you're hurt," Sam said, and Dean looked up to see a handprint freeze-burned onto Mary's arm, just like on the body they had seen at the morgue. </p><p>"Let's go. Come on. Come on." Dean hustled the other two out of the house as quickly as he could.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>"Oh my God, Dean! Cas tried to make an FBI ID with the name Agent Beyoncé! I almost got us busted at the Kinko's!"</em>
</p><p><em>"I understood that Sam and Dean use the surnames of famous musical artists to help them remember their aliases. Beyoncé was the first one I thought of!"</em> Cas almost sounded petulant.</p><p><em>"Please tell me you stopped him,"</em> Dean begged. His laptop was open, and Cas and Charlie were on Skype from their own motel in Columbus.</p><p><em>"What is wrong with Beyoncé?"</em> Cas sounded outraged now, and Charlie was laughing so hard the audio fuzzed with static.</p><p>She finally got calmed down and continued.<em> "I got him to change it to Agent Castiel Knowles. That seemed less conspicuous, but he gets to keep his Bey. And he made me one as Agent Charlotte Coulton."</em></p><p>"Anyway," Dean tried to get the conversation back on track. "So what did you find?"</p><p>
  <em>"Right, yes, so guess who Cas thinks Lucifer is possessing?"</em>
</p><p>"I'm not guessing."</p><p>
  <em>"Ugh, you're no fun. Anyway. Vince Vincente."</em>
</p><p>Sam had been bandaging Mary's arm on the bed next to them, her hair still wrapped up in a damp towel from the shower she had taken. Dean got one room for the three of them and had volunteered to take the pullout cot. Hopefully, Mary wouldn't mind the close quarters, but he wasn't willing to let her out of his sight after the scare in the house. </p><p>Sam's head jerked up at the news, though, and he moved over to peer into the screen beside Dean.</p><p>"The rock star?" Sam asked eagerly. Mary looked over curiously.</p><p>Dean looked at them incredulously. "The douchebag? Guy used to roll with purple hair down to his butt and a spiked codpiece."</p><p>"It was the eighties," Sam protested, and Dean stared at his brother in shock.</p><p>"The what?"</p><p>"Uh," Sam hesitated and then shrugged. "It was the eighties."</p><p>"Are you defending him?" Dean cried as Charlie leaned back from the camera, laughing again.</p><p>"No! I'm not... I mean, his third album was kind of... not horrible."</p><p>"I hate you so much right now." Dean glared at Sam and then yelped as a wet towel smacked him in the head.</p><p>Mary was inspecting her bandage calmly, the towel that had been around her hair suspiciously missing. "Be nice to your brother, Dean."</p><p>"Anyway's, he's the devil now?" Sam asked.</p><p>"Well, he was kind of always the devil," Dean muttered, but went quiet at a look from Mary.</p><p><em>"We don't have proof yet, but there are definite signs,"</em> Cas said calmly. <em>"His band teammate reported the glowing red eyes as well as changed behavior and dramatically increased strength. We need to investigate more."</em></p><p><em>"And guess who our new partner is?"</em> Charlie chimed in, and suddenly Cas tried to reach for the computer screen. <em>"Hey, no, you are not turning it off."</em> She swatted him away, and he sat back down, resigned.</p><p>"Charlie, I'm not guessing."</p><p><em>"Crowley,"</em> Cas drew out the demon's name like a growl.</p><p>"Um, wow." Dean scratched the back of his head. "Why?"</p><p>
  <em>"He says that we should work together since we have currently...aligned goals."</em>
</p><p><em>"And I thought you and Sam were grumpy old men,"</em> Charlie said with a wave a Dean.<em> "Cas and Crowley just glare and growl at each other half the time. I'm having a great time."</em></p><p><em>"He was able to get into Vincente's room while we were interrogating the bandmate,"</em> Cas said grudgingly. <em>"We have a lead on a sister."</em></p><p>"Ok, well, it sounds like you guys are ready for a buddy-cop show. An angel and a demon. Together you solve crimes!"</p><p><em>"Dean, we have not solved any crimes,"</em> Cas objected over Charlie's giggles.</p><p>"I know, it's all just really, really weird. Just keep me updated, okay?" Dean sighed, wishing he could have everyone within reach.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Dean and Sam were both up and working by mid-morning. They had their computers out and were quietly plowing through research when Mary finished getting dressed in the bathroom.</p><p>"Okay," she said. "Ready to head out? Go knock on some doors?" At the boys' confused looks, she went on hesitantly. "Talk to the neighbors, hit up the Hall of Records, work the...case? We still do that, right?"</p><p>"Sometimes," Dean agreed uncomfortably. "But the uh, the internet has made a lot of that legwork..."</p><p>"Obsolete," Sam filled in the worst word possible, however accurate, and Dean kicked him under the table.</p><p>"What he means," Dean said loudly, "is that some of the filler information we can find online in like archived newspapers and police reports. We still talk to people." He stood and wrapped an arm around Mary. "And you are not obsolete."</p><p>"Of course!" Sam agreed. "I mean, I'm already in the St. Paul Police Department database. I've got police reports filed from 2004, uh, '91, '89, '85, '78. All deaths, all kids." He sighed. "Looks like it started with this girl here. Elizabeth Moriarty." He showed them a picture of a little girl in the arms of a thin man.</p><p>Mary stared in wonder. "You got all that from that?" She waved her hand at the laptop.</p><p>"Yeah," Sam said. Mary pulled away from Dean and stepped back to sit on the bed. "Mom," Sam said, "Don't worry about it. We'll teach you how to do this."</p><p>Dean hesitated, not sure if he should keep her talking or focus on the case. He sat back down at the table to work, but Sam had more to say.</p><p>"I have another lead, too," Sam said quietly. "Mylings."</p><p>"Mylings?" Dean questioned and then just closed the lid of his laptop. Honestly, research was not his greatest skill. He had been working as long as Sammy and had zero leads. </p><p>"Yeah," Sam got that focused look in his eye that research gave him. "From Scandinavian lore. Uh, children's spirits, vengeful ones." He squinted at the screen and began reading aloud. "'Their cries to help lure adults to their death.'"</p><p>"Anything about frozen hearts?" Mary asked.</p><p>"No, not yet, but this is just from old, incomplete folk accounts. We all know the lore isn't always one hundred percent."</p><p>Mary nodded noncommittally. "Mm, maybe, but... all I know is that little boy who grabbed me, I..." She sighed. "He didn't want to hurt me. He was scared."</p><p>"Yeah, um..." Sam looked skeptical. "It must have felt that way, but, Mom, the victims were all lured to their death by a baby's cry. Uh, the spirit marked Natalia right before she was killed, the same way she marked you. I mean, if we hadn't gotten there in time..."</p><p>Mary seemed upset, and so Dean interjected, "Well, look. We know all the kids' names, right? We know that they're all buried locally, so how about we salt and burn 'em?" He shrugged. "That's a safe bet."</p><p>The other two agreed and Dean stood to get ready when Mary stumbled and dropped back down to the bed, a hand raised to her temple. The brothers were out of their chairs in a heartbeat.</p><p>"Hey, you ok?"</p><p>"Yeah, fine. I'm fine. I'm fine." She looked at them firmly. "I'm fine."</p><p>Sam said, "Hey, maybe uh, you should stay here?"</p><p>"You remember how to call me on the phone if you need us, right?" Dean asked.</p><p>"Okay."</p><p>"Alright, back soon," Sam said and headed for the door. </p><p>Dean hesitated still and looked back at Mary. "Seriously, about the research and computer stuff, no one is as good as Sam and Charlie. It's not a problem." She smiled and nodded, so he got his coat. "We'll make it quick."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>When they dropped the shovels after digging out the last grave, it was dark. Sam poured the salt over the small skeleton, and Dean checked his phone. He noticed a missed call he hadn't noticed over the sound of the shovels and unlocked his phone frantically, worried Mary had called, but it was from Charlie. He played the voicemail she had left on speaker-phone.</p><p>
  <em>"Hi bitches, it's Charlie, just- OMG Cas, are you checking your tie? You look fine! Here, I'll fix it! Crowley, stop looking like you're so much better than us; there's a leaf in your hair- Anyway, Dean, we're fine! About to check in on the sister. Hope you guys got your beauty sleep! Love you, bye!"</em>
</p><p>Sam had the body burning by the time the message finished. They watched the flames together for a moment.</p><p>"You know, I'm worried about Mom," Sam said quietly.</p><p>"Me, too," Dean replied. "But, I mean, she's just working out the kinks of being back. And just for once, I don't want to make this into a problem. For once, can't we just have one good thing!"</p><p>"Mom's not a thing!" Sam protested, and Dean sighed.</p><p>"That's not what I mean."</p><p>"I'm happy to have her back too," Sam said, "I'm overjoyed! But... there's something about her. Something's going on with her."</p><p>"Yeah, she's adjusting."</p><p>"No, she's struggling," Sam said. "I mean, she's trying to bury herself in hunting to avoid dealing."</p><p>"And how would you know that?" Dean asked though he felt hypocritical even as the words came out.</p><p>"Years of personal experience," Sam said earnestly. "I don't know, man. Uh, like mother, like sons."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>The motel room was empty when they returned.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>"Mom, where are you?" Sam had the call on speakerphone.</p><p><em>"I'm at the Chamberlin house, on a hunch,"</em> Mary said. It didn't surprise either brother, but it was still bad news. </p><p>"Yeah, we salted and burned all the remains," Dean put in.</p><p>
  <em>"Yeah. Didn't work."</em>
</p><p>Dean closed his eyes. Fucking hell. "Ok, get out of the house and wait for us."</p><p><em>"What?"</em> Static flared across the line. <em>"Hello?"</em></p><p>"Mom?" Dean called quietly, little left in him except the panic and the forced calm he tried to shove over it. Sam tried too, but the call dropped. "Ok, let's go."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>The brothers burst into the Chamberlin house's living room as Mary gasped, the ghost of a man pulling life straight out of her chest. He flickered and disappeared at the interruption, but Dean recognized him as little Elizabeth Moriarty's father.</p><p>Mary collapsed, and Dean rushed to her. "Mom, hey. Come on." He tried to help her up and was stunned as she threw an elbow into his face. Dean stumbled back, holding his nose. </p><p>"Dean," Sam said in his heavy, bad-news voice, "she's possessed."</p><p>Sam raced for the iron chain, but the ghost threw him into a wall. He used Mary's body, eyes leaking ectoplasm, to shove Dean into the wall and hold him up by the throat. </p><p>"<em>My</em> house." Moriarty rasped. "<em>My</em> children. Forever." He pushed a hand onto Dean's chest, and a deep cold began sinking into him.</p><p>"Mom?" Dean whispered past the inhumanly strong hand around his throat. There was a sharp sense of deja-vu. "You can fight this." The ice pressed closer into his heart.</p><p>Mary pulled back and fell to her knees with a cry. Dean slid to the floor, gasping. Sam was calling Mary, and she fought against the ghost.</p><p>"The...basement." She managed. "Go!"</p><p>Sam rushed out of the room. Dean tried to crawl past Mary to get the iron chain, but Moriarty threw him back into the wall again.</p><p>"Mom?"</p><p>"Mommy's gone." The ghost said.</p><p>Dean was able to get to the shotgun before Moriarty was back on his feet. "Don't make me," he said as he pointed it at Mary's body. But the ghost tore it out of his hands with a gesture.</p><p>Smashing sounds echoed from the basement, and he was distracted. The ghost turned and walked towards the hall. Dean was able to get the iron chain and wrap it around Mary's body, pinning Moriarty in place. He groaned and fought, but Dean held on with everything he had.</p><p>Finally, Moriarty burst out of Mary with a spark of flame. He cried out as the fire ate at his incorporeal form. The forms of six children flickered into sight around him. They stared at him, cold and sad as he burned to ash. Then, one by one, they dissolved into blue-white light and floated away.</p><p>The last boy turned to look at Mary. Dean realized this was the one he had banished with the crowbar the day before. Mary nodded at the boy, and he too dissolved into light.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>The nine-hour drive home was quiet. Mary told them how she had called the little boy's mother while they were burning the bodies. She had been sure, and rightly so, that the children were trapped souls.</p><p>They listened to rock music exclusively produced before the 80s. That was easy as most of Dean's cassettes were already in that category. Considering John Winchester had decided that time stopped in 1981, Dean was actually quite knowledgeable about 1970's pop culture and could chat softly with Mary while Sam napped. </p><p>"Hey, Mom. You were great today. Apologies if Sam and I sidelined or hijacked you in any way. This was your case. And you kicked ass. Again."</p><p>"I kicked ass?" She scoffed. "You saved me!"</p><p>"No," Dean insisted, "you were right. I mean, hell, we don't even know what Moriarty's deal was."</p><p>"I do." Mary's voice was hushed. "When he possessed me, I saw... I felt it. All of it." She looked down at her hands, lying empty in her lap. "When Hugo lost his child, he went mad. Buried himself alive in his basement and walled himself in and starved to death."</p><p>Dean's eyebrows rose. "Damn."</p><p>"But when new families moved in," she continued, "families with children, he coveted those children. So he took them. Killed them. Somehow that bound their spirits to his. That's where he got his power. He was so... greedy. Twisted."</p><p>Dean let her turn away and stare out the window in silence. He turned the radio up after a few minutes and left her to her thoughts. </p><p>Later, he took a turn napping in the backseat as well. It took him a while to fall asleep, though. His throat burned every time he swallowed, and his coat rubbed at the frostbite on his chest. He watched Mary, though, with a smile.</p><p>Dean was well aware that his mental state was not exactly healthy at the best of times. He felt old and settled in his coping mechanisms, though, and couldn't be bothered to try and fix himself at this point. But probably wasn't healthy that he thought about Mary's short possession as a good thing. That it made Mary seem more like family than any childhood memories. It had only been a ghost, but still, that guy had been pretty intense. </p><p>Breaking possession had become a strange sort of love language for Dean. His father had broken Azazel's, Bobby had broken through a demon, Cas had broken through Naomi and Lucifer, and Sam had broken through Lucifer, too. Dean himself had broken through the Mark of Cain's influence for Cas.</p><p>He drifted off to these strange thoughts.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Charlie and Cas were waiting when they got to the bunker. There was a hubbub of greetings and back-slaps. They were all tired, though, and began to wander through the map room towards the dorm rooms.</p><p>Dean noticed Mary wasn't following. She held back, pulling on the wedding ring she had moved to a chain around her neck.</p><p>"Mom. It's ok." He worried she was still thinking about Moriarty. "All right? You're home now." </p><p>"No." She sighed, "I'm not. I miss John. I miss my boys."</p><p>Sam had stopped too, and Charlie and Cas hovered by the doorway. </p><p>"We're right here, Mom," Sam said hesitantly.</p><p>Mary looked at him sadly. "I know. In my head. But I'm still mourning them as I knew them. My baby Sam." She turned to look at Dean. "My little boy, Dean."</p><p>Sam's puppy eyes were wide and understanding, but Dean could feel himself shutting down, the blood draining out of his face. He knew this tone of speech.</p><p>"Just feels like yesterday," she went on, "we were together in heaven, and now... I'm here. And John is gone, and they're gone. And I thought hunting, working, would clear my head."</p><p>"M-Mom," Sam stammered, "w-what are you trying to say."</p><p>There was a heartbeat of silence, and then Charlie and Cas rushed into the gaps between the three Winchesters before anything else could be said. Charlie wrapped one arm around Sam's waist and held onto Mary's shoulder with her other hand. </p><p>Winchesters, and the Campbells that preceded them, were a typically stoic lot. They shoved their pain down and down until it burst out like acid, burning everyone around. Unfortunately, this group of Winchesters had been dealt far more than their fair share of pain. Dean had been burned so many times by his father and brother's discharges, and he knew he had hurt other people in his turn. </p><p>This rejection shouldn't come as a surprise, but it did. It felt like getting the wind knocked out of him. </p><p>He realized that Cas was standing right in front of him, a shield between him and the others. But the angel didn't touch him. He seemed to know without a word that Dean would flinch and crack completely if anyone touched him right now. </p><p>Mary was barely holding herself together. The intervention had broken her calm, and the pain was showing through. "I have to go." She looked over Charlie's head at Sam. His eyes were bright with tears now, and he couldn't focus on anything. "I'm sorry." She looked back at Dean, who was staring fixedly at a stain on Cas's coat sleeve, his lips tight as he tried to keep from pushing his pain back out onto her. "I'm so... so sorry," Mary said again. "I just need a little time."</p><p>Dean wished desperately that everyone would disappear. He wanted to break things and drink an entire liquor store, and he really, really wanted to be alone. Why did Charlie and Cas have to be here to see this? His own mom throwing him and Sammy away.</p><p>Charlie was making concerned sounds and trying to pat both Sam and Mary comfortingly.</p><p>"Oh my god, oh my god," Charlie was murmuring. "It's okay, everybody. We can handle this. Okay. Okay. We are all exhausted and hungry and need a shower, so how about for tonight, no one is leaving? Oh my god, Mary." Charlie hugged the younger woman. "Of course you're hurting. We're going to get you through this. But please, for the love of Hermione, do not just walk out without a plan like that."</p><p>Mary looked confused. "But- I- I have to." She looked around at everyone and reached out for Sam. "I<em> have</em> to go!" </p><p>Sam embraced her and nodded. "I know." He let go, though the tears were rolling down his face, and his body was actually trembling now. </p><p>"Mary," Cas's voice was concerned, "we are not holding you prisoner."</p><p>"I have to go," Mary said again. She was getting agitated. "That's what happens next!"</p><p>Cas and Dean were staring at her with a different kind of shock now. They looked at Charlie, who stared back, wide-eyed and confused. Mary was pushing past Sam and Charlie to get to the door now. </p><p>Cas spoke first. "Charlie, what if you go with her? You are not her son, so you won't bring her grief. I'm sorry to ask-"</p><p>"No, Cas, you're right. There's something hinky going on here. I'll stick with her. Keep you guys up to speed." </p><p>Charlie grabbed the duffel that had never made it back to her bedroom and hurried up the stairs to catch up with Mary. The door slammed behind the girls, and Sam physically flinched from the sound.</p><p>"Oh, Sam." Cas' voice was soft now, and he pulled the tall man into a hug. Sam hesitated but cautiously put his arms around the angel's shoulders for a moment before backing away. "What about a... um, movie night?" Cas suggested awkwardly. He was clearly at a loss as to how to comfort Sam and looked over at Dean imploringly.</p><p>Dean tried to reach through the hollow in his chest to comfort his brother. He tried to put on the fake smile. He might even have managed it if Cas wasn't staring at him, his expression softening again.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Interlude: Coping</strong>
</p><p>If Cas hadn't been there, Dean wasn't sure how long Sam would have stood there in the map room. He himself would have bailed and searched out the whiskey immediately and stayed at the bottom of that bottle for at least a week.</p><p>But Cas was in his guardian angel mode now. He put Sam to bed with a cup of tea and an old show running on the tv in his bedroom. Then he used his terribly unfair angel strength to steal Dean's whiskey and push him to his own bedroom. </p><p>"You should put on your music," Cas said, nodding at the vinyl player. He was leaning against the door, blocking Dean's path back to the alcohol. Dean glared but did it anyway. Because he wanted to listen to music, not because Cas had told him to. He also took the robe Cas handed him, again because he wanted to.</p><p>Ignoring the bed, he sat down on the floor by the door next to Cas. </p><p>"I thought you still sucked at knowing what humans needed," Dean said when Cas produced a bottle of beer from his trench coat pocket. It wasn't hard liquor, but it would keep off the worst of the cravings. Not that he was an alcoholic. </p><p>"I do suck at it," Cas replied and showed Dean his phone. There was a text thread open with Charlie.</p><p></p><blockquote>
  <p>
    <em>Charlie - how are they?</em>
  </p>
  <p>
    <span class="u">Castiel - They are just standing there. I am not sure what to do.</span>
  </p>
  <p>
    <em>Charlie - just creature comfort, ig</em>
  </p>
  <p>
    <span class="u">Castiel - I didn't understand any of that.</span>
  </p>
  <p>
    <em>Charlie - lol, just make them feel safe</em>
    <br/>
    <em>Charlie - like, put them to bed</em>
    <br/>
    <em>Charlie - make tea</em>
    <br/>
    <em>Charlie - sometimes it helps me if the tv is on in the background so my thoughts don't get as loud</em>
  </p>
  <p>
    <span class="u">Castiel - Thank you, Charlie. I will try.</span>
  </p>
  <p>
    <em>Charlie - maybe keep D from dying of alcohol poisoning?</em>
  </p>
  <p>
    <span class="u">Castiel - Indeed, that will be the real trial of the night.</span>
    <br/>
    <span class="u">Castiel - How is Mary?</span>
  </p>
  <p>
    <em>Charlie - just driving. not sure if she knows i'm here, ngl</em>
  </p>
  <p>
    <span class="u">Castiel - Please stop using random letters.</span>
  </p>
  <p>
    <em>Charlie - love you too, bestie</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p>"I think 'ngl' means 'not gonna lie,'" Dean commented. "Anyway, that's just the stuff you did for Sammy, except the stealing my whiskey part, which we can fight about later. How did you know what to get me?"</p><p>Cas just looked down at him. "Dean."</p><p>"Never mind, Cas." Dean was in a melancholy mood now and would have sat there for hours, but Cas huffed and dragged him over to the bed. "Hey! Fucking cheating angel strength." He sat on the edge of the bed. "She just left. Everyone leaves, Cas." Dean looked up at the angel, "You tried to leave, too."</p><p>Cas dropped to his knees beside the bed, but he didn't look at Dean. Instead, he worked at untying the other man's shoelaces. "I'm sorry, Dean. Sometimes people just feel like they need to figure things out alone. My thing was guilt. Hers was grief. I don't know if it helps, but it's really not about leaving you specifically." He pulled at the boots, and Dean just let him take them off and put them aside.</p><p>He lay back and muttered more curses as he got himself into the blankets, still in the dumb bathrobe. Cas primly tucked the blankets around him, but then Dean squirmed free, not liking the feeling of being trapped. Cas huffed again and threw the edge of the blanket over Dean's face.</p><p>"Goodnight, Dean. I will be walking the kitchen and library, so please don't go looking for more whiskey. I promised Charlie. I'll bring you another beer if you want it."</p><p>"Yes, please," said Dean sullenly, and Cas pulled a second bottle from his trench coat. Apparently, even this lesser trench coat had deep pockets. He continued with more grace. "Goodnight, Cas. Thanks for, y'know. Being here."</p><p>He caught a twist of a smile from Cas before the angel closed the door.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Poor Charlie just has to tag along with whoever is running away at the moment. Keep them from getting too detached. But yeah, I have to keep shuffling characters around. </p><p>Also, why do you think Mary HAD to go? Maybe someone's "pulling her strings?" Hint hint. Lol, you already know the story!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. American Nightmare (this highway never fucking ends)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dean, Sam, and Cas go on a hunt together. There are a dead social worker and a strangely extreme religious family. Sam seems to be acting strange. Can they keep from fracturing?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Yeah, Christmas wrecked my schedule. I'm so worn out x_x</p><p>Also, chapter tags: #child abuse, #ptsd, #John Winchester's A+ Parenting. I'll add them to the tags. Dean has a flashback, but Cas breaks him out of it before it gets too bad.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sam and Cas were already in the library when Dean stumbled in after a few hours of troubled sleep. He automatically checked over Sam first, who seemed... better than he had been the last few days. The past couple of days since Mary and Charlie's departure had been extremely quiet and tense. So he just nodded a sleepy greeting and settled into one of the leather side chairs with his coffee. Sam returned the nod absently as he focused on whatever he was doing on the computer.</p><p>Then Dean took a look at Cas, who was getting up to sit in the other chair by Dean. It was harder to read how he was doing than it was Sam. Also, he was studying Dean right back.  </p><p>"Hey," Dean said, his voice still sleep-rough, "so you never caught us up on the Lucifer hunt." He noticed Sam leave off his work again to listen.</p><p>"Ah. Right." Cas settled a bit into the chair. He did that more often since his time as a human, settling into a seat instead of sitting on the edge. "Well, we visited Vince Vincente's sister and found that she had been healed of her paralysis. She mentioned a redhead traveling with him, and Crowley admitted that he and Rowena had had a," and here Cas held up his fingers in air quotes, "'rather embarrassing run-in'" with Lucifer. We also learned of a cabin where he used to go write his music."</p><p>"Wait," Dean interrupted. "Go back to the part where Lucifer and Rowena are teamed up? 'Cause, that seems kinda major. You can't just footnote that, Cas!"</p><p>Cas glared. "I'm getting there. Anyway, Crowley wasn't sure if she was working with Lucifer willingly either, but he was not happy with her being under Lucifer's influence in any circumstance. So we went to Vincente's cabin, but Rowena had already blasted Lucifer away and freed herself."</p><p>"What? Where did she send him? Is he still in the hairband guy?"</p><p>"If you mean Vincente, yes. She was able to decay his vessel further, but he's still in it. Then she banished him to the bottom of the ocean. It won't hold him forever, but it buys us some time."</p><p>"So, does that mean she's on our side?" Sam asked.</p><p>"Rowena says she won't hunt him with us, but if we find him, she's willing to do what she can."</p><p>"Huh." Dean took a long drink of his coffee. "I didn't see that one coming. The wicked witch<em> doesn't</em> want to work for Satan? "</p><p>Cas shrugged, and they went quiet.</p><p>"Well," Sam said, "I couldn't sleep much, so I was looking for a new case. And I found one."</p><p>It was a relief to hear Sam's voice again. He had been silent and withdrawn since the other night. Charlie had let them know the girls were safe, but that was about all they knew. Mary still hadn't contacted anyone. A case would be a good thing, so Dean nodded. "What do you have?"</p><p>"Ok, so, it's in Iowa. The headline reads 'Priest Claims Demons Walk Among Us.' In the middle of Mass, a social worker named Olivia Sanchez walked in with holes in her feet. She was apparently 'speaking in tongues' and being whipped by something invisible. Then she dropped dead."</p><p>"That definitely sounds like our kind of thing," Cas said seriously.</p><p>Dean shrugged. "Sure." The other two seemed eager to go, so he stood up with a sigh. "Let's meet at the car in twenty. I need to get more coffee."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>He had to admit, Cas certainly looked more like a priest than Sam did. Dean looked at his brother's long hair with exasperation. It had almost blown their cover multiple times as FBI agents since it was so obviously out of regulations. But today, the typical ties and badges were stowed, and they had brought out the black shirts and white collars of the priesthood. </p><p>And seeing Cas in different clothes when he wore the same thing every day was... strange.</p><p>Dean stared at him when he came up to the car from the gas station bathroom, and Cas actually ducked his head to check himself in the mirror. </p><p>"Did I do it wrong?" He asked, pulling the white plastic collar out of the shirt. "I don't know how else you could do this."</p><p>Dean left the gas pump in its holder and stepped around the car. He took the plastic strip away from the angel and replaced it with the black collar. "You're fine, dude. Just weird seein' you out of the trench coat, y'know? You wear that thing every fucking day." He made sure all the buttons were done right and adjusted Cas's suit jacket. "You look taller like this. It's weirding me out."</p><p>Sam slammed the passenger seat door, making them both jump. They hadn't noticed him come back from picking up snacks. </p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>They found the priest who had been interviewed for the article in the main sanctuary, speaking to one of the altar boys. </p><p>"Father Valdecantos?" Sam called. "I'm Father Penn of the Dubuque Archdiocese. This is-"</p><p>"Fathers DeNiro and Moore," Dean said, gesturing at himself and Cas in turn. </p><p>"We're here to talk about Olivia Sanchez," continued Sam.</p><p>Valdecantos eyed them all suspiciously. "I'm not talking about that anymore." He turned away.</p><p>Dean spoke loudly enough to stop him, "you sure were chatty with the press and the cops. 'Priest Claims Demons Walk Among Us.' Boy, that's quite the headline grabber."</p><p>"I said I'm not talking about-"</p><p>"No, we heard you," Dean said harshly, and Cas put a hand on his shoulder. </p><p>"We just want to understand what happened," Cas said calmly to the priest.<br/> <br/>"You'll just think I'm lying, like my bishop, like everyone. But I knew Olivia. She was a good person. I watched her get flayed alive by some invisible force. That was the devil's work. I've been told the church doesn't want us talking like that anymore- too old fashioned. But I know what I saw."</p><p>"Did you see any black smoke?" Dean asked seriously. The priest looked confused.</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"We don't think you're lying," Sam assured Valdecantos. "We just wanna ask you a few questions, that's all."</p><p>The priest nodded slowly. "Um... no. No smoke."</p><p>"What about sulfur?" Dean continued. "Did you smell rotten eggs?"</p><p>"Uh, no?"</p><p>"You told people that she was speaking in tongues?" asked Sam.</p><p>Valdecantos nodded. "Yes. It sounded like Hebrew." He tilted his head thoughtfully. "<em>Prok yaw-thi a-law-haw.</em>" </p><p>"It's Aramaic," Cas said confidently. "It means, 'Save me, oh God.'"</p><p>"What kind of priests are you?" Valdecantos asked incredulously.</p><p>"The old-fashioned kind," Dean said, and they made their goodbyes. As they walked back down the aisle between the pews, he began throwing out ideas at the other two. "So no sulfur means no demon. Do you think padre's right? We're talking about Lucifer here?"</p><p>"Little small-time for him," Sam said. "I don't know. Maybe a rogue angel?"</p><p>Cas shook his head. "There's nothing on Angel Radio," he informed them. "Also, heaven is still locked down, so it's doubtful there are any rogue angels around. Other than myself, I mean."</p><p>Dean paused at the end of the aisle to watch a woman helping a boy light one of the votive candles. Mary's expression from that last evening, grieving and guilty, ate at him. He wanted to be selfish and keep her with him, but he also wanted her to be happy.</p><p>They exited the church into midday sunlight and headed for the Impala, parked at the curb. Sam said he wanted to get coffee from the truck across the street, so Dean and Cas just settled against the car to wait.</p><p><em>Why couldn't she just be happy with us?</em> He hadn't heard anything from Charlie or Mary this morning, and he was getting worried. Maybe he should text them?</p><p>He pulled out his phone and stared at it for a moment before getting a message typed out.</p><p></p><blockquote>
  <p>
    <strong>Dean - Hi, mom, just checking in. Is MOM still okay or weird? Should I call you Mary?</strong>
  </p>
</blockquote><p>"Now I'm a thirteen-year-old girl," Dean muttered. Cas looked over at him, confused. Dean sighed and then showed him the text. "She hasn't talked to me since she left."</p><p>"It hasn't been very long."</p><p>"I know."</p><p>Cas did that horrible thing he did where he stood next to Dean, quiet and gravely serious, and pulled the truth out of him just by being there. </p><p>"Part of me is just so angry at Amara for doing this to us. Sam and I were doing fine. We were holding it together just fine. Why would she think that giving me my mom back was what I needed? Especially when my mom doesn't even-" He broke off, not ready to go there, even with Cas. "I just think she was happier in heaven with... him. With Dad."</p><p>"Where we are happiest is not always where we are needed," Cas said simply. He turned his head and caught Dean's eyes. Cas looked so ancient and powerful sometimes, but right now, in his tidy black ensemble and white-collar, he looked so utterly sober and human. "Right now," continued Cas, "we are giving Mary time to figure out what she is doing and how she fits into all this. But you will need her later, I think, and she will have to put aside her own issues and be your mother then." His look was focused and reassuring. "I have<em> faith</em> that this family can come back together." </p><p>Dean's gaze back was confused and wistful.</p><p>Sam cleared his throat beside them and then pushed between them to get into the passenger side door. Thinking time was over, apparently. It was time for their regularly scheduled visit to the local morgue.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>"Body's right there, Agents. I can get her prepped to your-"</p><p>"That's great, Carl," Dean interrupted. "We'll take it from here."</p><p>"Oh, ok," Carl agreed, "Um, but it's a weird'un. If you guys need anything at all, I'm-"</p><p>"We won't. We won't." Dean hurried the medical examiner out of the door. "Thank you."</p><p>"Little, uh, tough on Carl, don't you think?" Sam scolded.</p><p>"Ah, he's a big boy. He can take it." </p><p>Sam still looked concerned. "You okay?"</p><p>"Peachy." Dean was fully in performance mode now, his earlier openness with Cas shut back down.</p><p>"You sure?" Sam was pressing. "'Cause ever since Mom left, you've been a little, uh...<br/>cranky."</p><p>"Cranky, huh?" Dean tried to focus on the case file papers in his hand. Honestly, he thought he had been handling the whole thing better than Sam had, but whatever.</p><p>"Yeah. To the priest, to Carl. Heck, on the way here, you wouldn't even make a pit stop."</p><p>Dean blinked incredulously. "What?" He had definitely made at least one pit stop. It was a six-hour drive out here to the middle of bum-fuck nowhere, Iowa. Also, they had stopped to change and get snacks an hour outside town. Was Sam forgetting things?</p><p>"I'm just saying-" </p><p>Sam seemed to be getting upset, and Cas held a hand up. "Perhaps we should focus on Olivia Sanchez," he said. He waved a hand at Dean to read the file.</p><p>Dean gave Sam a concerned look himself, then read aloud. "She was found with deep cuts on her back as though she had been whipped. Holes punctured through her hands and her feet, and pinprick wounds around the top of her skull. What's that sound like to you?"</p><p>"Stigmata," Sam and Cas said simultaneously. Sam held up one of the woman's hands, showing the wound on her palm. </p><p>"The wounds Christ received during the crucifixion," Cas elaborated. They were all pretty familiar with Christian ideology though at this point.</p><p>"Get's weirder," Dean said.</p><p>"How?" asked Sam. Dean handed over the file so Sam could read it himself. "The victim's skull was filled with a goopy mush."</p><p>"So something liquidated her brain?" Cas asked.</p><p>"That Carl paints quite a picture, doesn't he?" Dean commented. "All right. What can do all that?" </p><p>"I got nothing," Sam said.</p><p>"Well," Cas mused, "there are just too many variables still. Magic, psychics, demons, witches, gods. Anything that can control actions and destroy the brain."</p><p>"Okay, let's go see who Olivia Sanchez was, then," Dean said.</p><p>As Sam walked out, Dean held up Cas with a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, does he seem a bit off to you?"</p><p>"He has been reacting strangely. And saying strange things."</p><p>"Yeah, let's keep an eye on him."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Her house turned up nothing, so the three went to her workplace next. They pulled up out front of the brick building Child Protective Services was in. Sam went to open the door, but Dean got stuck. </p><p>A swell of panic threatened to break through the carefully constructed walls in Dean's mind.<em> No, fuck, not now!</em> Dean glared at his reflection in the glass door and shoved his feelings deep into the lockboxes of his brain before following Sam.</p><p> A man was already changing the nameplate above the door of Olivia's office as her coworker led them in.</p><p>"This is- was Olivia's office." The young woman had introduced herself as Beth Roberts, a surprisingly boring white name for someone who looked Indian or South Asian by race.</p><p>"So what is it now?" Sam asked. An occult symbol on the candle burning on the desk caught Dean's attention.</p><p>"It's... kinda mine now."</p><p>"So is that yours?" Dean pointed at the candle.</p><p>"It's for positive energy," Beth explained. "I'm a Wiccan."</p><p>"Cool," Dean said and threw a significant glance over at Sam. Of course, it would be witches. He hated witches. Not because he had anything against the religion stuff, just because dark spells always seemed to require something gooey or from a baby. Or a bunny.</p><p>Sam mostly ignored him. "So how well did you know Olivia?" He asked Beth.</p><p>"She was my boss." She replied, then hesitantly asked, "Is it true what they're saying, that she, you know... killed herself?"</p><p>"Well, we're working on that," Sam said. "Um, now the day she died, was Olivia acting strange?"</p><p>"Not really. I mean... she was getting headaches. Bad ones, like super migraines. But we all knew she was working too hard."</p><p>"She have any enemies?" Dean pressed, "someone who held a grudge, maybe wanted to do her harm?"</p><p>Beth laughed harshly. "Yeah." She took a deep breath. "I mean, Olivia was great, but this is Child Protective Services. We get threats all the time."</p><p><em>Oh no.</em> The wave was coming back. Sammy looked at Beth, innocently confused, "From who?"</p><p>"Everyone. You don't make a lot of friends when sometimes what's best for a family is to split them up."</p><p>Two things happened almost at once. </p><p>First, Dean felt like someone kicked in his ribs; the pain from Beth's words and the memories that flashed through his mind were like a physical wound <em>-Screaming. She couldn't take him away. She couldn't take <strong>Sammy</strong> away. He held the toddler to his chest and screamed at the woman. It was the first time he had let sound come out of his mouth since that night. But he had to make her understand. "No! NO!" He sobbed. He screamed. "Daddy's coming! He'll be here! He's gonna come back!" The woman was asking questions, but Dean could only cry and say the same things, gripping his baby brother tightly so she couldn't take him away. It was hours, he thought, and she tried to just drag him out of whatever motel room they were in, but he managed to hide in the closet, Sammy wailing into his shoulder now in accompaniment to his own cries</em>- But Dean was pulled from the memories almost as fast as they washed over him. He looked over and saw Cas standing close, and hand gripping Dean's shoulder in comfort and reassurance.</p><p>Sam had continued talking like nothing had happened. "Yeah, can we see Olivia's case files?"</p><p>Cas was looking at Dean with concern, and Dean tried to brush it off but was caught there. He nodded at Cas gratefully and focused over on Beth as she retrieved the case files. The angel dropped his hand and put it into the pocket of his trench coat.</p><p>They headed out a few minutes later with a box of case files. Dean was trying to hold his feelings together and was thankful to be out of that<em> fucking</em> office. </p><p>"Well, that was easy." He said with forced optimism.</p><p>"What?" Sam seemed confused.</p><p>"What?" He mocked. "The Wicca'd Witch of the West in there. Little Miss Positive Energy wanted a bigger office, did a little hoodoo... boom. I say we put a witch-killing cap in her ass, call it a day."</p><p>"Yeah, but we checked the church and Olivia's house. We didn't exactly find any hex bags."</p><p>"So she covered her tracks," Dean said confidently. He opened the Impala's trunk and rifled through his pack for witch-killing bullets. </p><p>"But we're not looking at a witch." Sam insisted. "I'm not saying it's not Beth, I'm- I'm just saying we need proof. And look, if it's her, I'll shoot her myself."</p><p>"Oh, no, no, no, no." He held up the bullets he'd found. "No, I'm definitely shooting her."</p><p>Cas stage-whispered to Sam, "I think you are correct. Dean does seem to be cranky." Dean glared at Cas, who ignored him and got into the backseat. The brothers got in as well. Cas continued as Dean started the car. "I don't believe Beth is a real witch anyway." They glanced back at him curiously. "A vanilla candle with a pentacle drawn on it is not likely to do much for adding positive energy to a room. She would be better off burning sage and placing the correct crystals or salt in the corners. I don't think she has the skill to do what was done to Olivia Sanchez."</p><p>Dean nodded and breathed out slowly. "Okay. See, Sam, that's a reasonable argument against killing her. She's too crappy a witch. Let's go to the motel and read through the case files."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>There was a choice to be made at the hotel. Dean glanced through the window at Cas and Sam, still sitting in the car talking. It had been a long time since the three of them had actually gone on a hunt somewhere. Should he get a second room for Cas? Or just a cot like he had gotten when they had stayed with Mary?</p><p>A brief memory of the last time Cas had offered to stay with them flashed through his mind. He has asked Cas what he would do since the angel didn't sleep, and Cas had innocently replied, "I'll watch over you." </p><p>It still sent a shiver down Dean's spine.</p><p>But Dean was still at this place in his mind where he didn't want to let anyone too far out of sight, especially when they weren't safely hidden in the bunker. He made up his mind and asked the desk manager for one room with two queens and an extra cot. But this time, Cas could have the cot since he didn't actually need it for sleeping, and of the two of them, only one was human enough to get backaches.</p><p>He stopped back at the car to get his duffel and the other two hunters, and then they followed him to the motel room. Sam raised an eyebrow at the single key, but no one said anything. They dropped their things and settled around the table to start reading the case files. </p><p>It was quiet for a while as they read. Companionable silence. This was how a family was supposed to be, right? Dean was bored. He started to tap a finger on the table. After about a half-hour of trying to read case files, the words started jumping around, and he was reading the same paragraph over and over again. Dean and put on the radio beside the bed to help him focus, but it didn't work very well. When his leg started jumping up and down, Sam held his hands up in surrender and offered to get supper. </p><p>He left, and Dean moved to the bed to turn on the television. Settling against the headboard with his legs stretched out, he held up the remote. He paused, and instead of turning the TV on, he set the remote back down.</p><p>He watched the back of Cas' head for a few minutes before speaking. "How did you know I was upset, back at the office? You reacted like, right away."</p><p>Cas looked up at him, confused. "You were upset before we even went in."</p><p>"I wasn't- I mean, I thought I covered that."</p><p>Cas sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I know you very well, Dean. You shouldn't be so surprised."</p><p>Dean laughed. "That's true."</p><p>"So, do you want to talk about why you were so upset? I know her comment about families splitting up was harsh, but you seemed deeply wounded."</p><p>"I...it's not a big deal." Dean paused. "Just stuff from when I was a kid. Memories that came back, y'know? I mean, we dealt with CPS pretty often, whenever anyone got close enough to learn about our life. But it was awful at the beginning."</p><p>He sighed. Apparently, he was talking about this. Cas got up and sat on the end of the bed so he could look at Dean.</p><p>"Mom and Dad still had friends and stuff in Lawrence, and they realized Dad was getting a bit lost after Mom died. They tried to help and stuff, but he shut everyone out. Especially after he learned the truth. He started to train and study. He was learning a lot from Missouri Moseley, I know now. All I knew at the time, of course, was that we had moved into a motel because the house was too burned to live in. Sometimes we went to daycare, but sometimes Dad couldn't afford it. And sometimes... he left me home with Sammy."</p><p>Cas put a hand on Dean's ankle. Dean dragged his eyes away and continued. "Anyway, apparently, one of Mom's friends came over while Dad was out and was...concerned. She must have called CPS because the next thing I remember was someone trying to take Sammy and me out of the hotel room." Dean choked a little and skipped ahead to his father's return. "Dad got home before they got us out of there. He was mad. I don't know what he said to them, but they didn't come back. We skipped town a really quick after that, anyway."</p><p>Cas was just looking at him with that stupid compassion he had. Dean looked away again, staring at the blank television. "It was just a scary thing when I was a kid. I've seen way worse stuff since. It shouldn't have bothered me." He picked at his shirt, awkwardly. "I just don't really like social workers."</p><p>"I understand, Dean. Childhood traumas can cause significant effects on the psyche, even when there are greater traumas later. I will refrain from giving my own opinions on John Winchester's parenting." Cas' hand tightened on Dean's ankle, then released. "I understand that he was confused and grieving at the time. You were frightened and worried about losing the little family you had left. That is a valid fear."</p><p>He sighed and waited until Dean met his eyes again. "It isn't the burden of all social workers, though. They are not monsters. They have a mission, much like your own, to save children from harm. That is a righteous thing."</p><p>Dean closed his eyes and nodded. It was true. He knew it was, somewhere in his mind. Someone had to be there to protect people from the human monsters.</p><p>"Ok. I'll leave off Beth unless there's some kind of evidence."</p><p>"That's all we're asking. Thank you."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>The morning came with a call about another body. Dean and Sam got showered and changed while Cas picked up food since he was already ready for the day. He had read over Olivia's case files and watched TV all night. Dean was grateful he hadn't just watched them sleep. </p><p>They were all pretty quiet as they set out into town. Dean went to talk to the coroner at the crime scene while Sam and Cas asked around about the victim, and then all three met back at the car. </p><p>"Coroner says signs of stigmata," Dean reported. "With a side of scrambled brains, just like Olivia."</p><p>"Got it," Sam murmured.</p><p>Dean got into the car, and the other two followed. "Did you guys find anything?"</p><p>"Maybe," Sam said." Kid delivered groceries all over town, so I checked his route against Olivia's case files."</p><p>"And?" Dean pressed. Sam always did this, giving out information in little pieces.</p><p>"Got a match."</p><p>Cas picked up the narrative. "He regularly delivered groceries to the Peterson family, who Olivia Sanchez had a file on. I read through it last night. She had many notes about them."</p><p>"Like what?" Dean asked.</p><p>"She described the family as extremely religious, which fits our profile. They seem to have shunned all modern conveniences, similar to the Amish. Their oldest daughter died a few years ago, though. We should probably call Beth Roberts and see if she knows more."</p><p>Dean nodded and handed Beth's card to Cas. He dialed the number and put it on speakerphone in between the three of them. </p><p>"Ms. Roberts. Hello, this is Agent Knowles. Can you tell us about the Petersons?"</p><p>"<em>They're weird</em>." Beth's voice replied.</p><p>"How weird?" Dean asked.</p><p>"<em>All the way. That family, they're like off the charts religious. Old, old testament. I'm talking no cars, no electricity, no nothing. Kids are homeschooled. But-</em>" She paused.</p><p>"But what, Beth?" Sam asked softly.</p><p>Beth sighed. "<em>Their oldest, Magda- a few years ago, she got pneumonia, and the family wouldn't let a doctor treat her. they said whatever happened was God's will.</em>"</p><p>Dean thought he knew where this was going but asked anyway. "What happened?"</p><p>"<em>She died.</em>" Beth's voice sounded old and resigned.</p><p>Dean understood suddenly what Cas had meant the night before. These social workers really were like hunters. That was the voice he used about someone he hadn't been able to save and couldn't forgive himself for.</p><p>"All right," Sam said. "Um, thank you." Cas hung up the phone, and they all looked at each other. "So?" Sam asked.</p><p>"Weird, creepy, off the grid, "Children of the Corn" people? Yeah, I'm in."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Sam had a valid point that they probably wouldn't be well accepted as FBI agents by these people. Even social workers would probably be unwelcome, but at least the Petersons were used to that. So they stopped at a store to buy sweaters and khakis since that wasn't a disguise they typically packed. </p><p>Cas seemed overwhelmed by the choices since he didn't usually change clothes, so Dean just grabbed him a soft blue sweater-vest and let him keep his usual shirt-tie-pants combo. They argued about aliases in the car since Cas had apparently decided he had opinions about music now. </p><p>"Me and Sam are gonna use Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek from The Doors, so you have to be Robby Krieger or John Densmore. It just makes sense!"</p><p>"The Doors are boring, Dean. I don't enjoy listening to their music. Light My Fire is almost interesting, but it's still just dour. Like a zombie disco."</p><p>"Ok, then who are you going to be?"</p><p>"If you insist on old music...I'll be Freddie Mercury."</p><p>Dean's control of the car slipped a bit as he turned to stare at Cas. "No, I've already used that one!"</p><p>"Dean!" Sam forced his attention back to the road.</p><p>"Cas, you have to pick less obvious names! This is Beyoncé all over again! You and your freaking pop music."</p><p>"Queen is a rock band, and you use famous names every day." Cas said primly, "And you just said you've already used that one. But anyway, I'll do the same thing I did then, and use his real last name. Freddie Bulsara."</p><p>Cas looked pleased with his idea, and honestly, Dean couldn't think of a complaint. So he just grumbled and insisted on putting on a Doors cassette for the rest of the drive. Cas rolled his eyes when Dean met them in the mirror. It was a soft look, though, and Dean had to look away quickly.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>They had to park on the side of the main road as the drive up to the Peterson's farm was blocked by a gate with a large, handmade "NO TRESPASSERS" sign hung on it. </p><p>"Guess we're walking from here," Dean said. He awkwardly climbed over the gate, feeling all of his thirty-seven years. Sam and Cas just watched him, then walked through the now-obvious gap to the side of the gate. Sam gave him a mocking look, pleased to have one-upped his brother, but Cas just smiled in amusement. </p><p>They started down the drive and noticed a utility pole that had been chopped down like a tree.</p><p>"Wow, when they cut the cord, they really cut the cord," Dean commented.</p><p>Sam nodded, "Yeah, no kidding."</p><p>"Well, they also cut the pole down, Dean," Cas said. "And the electricians would have had to reroute the lines. They should have just detached the cables from the home itself. This is vandalism." He sounded outraged, and Dean just patted his shoulder. </p><p>"How fast do you think their buggy goes?" Dean asked, "Like, top speed?"</p><p>Cas was clearly about to give a real answer, but Sam broke in. "Hey, about yesterday... about you and Mom."</p><p>Dean hesitated, "What about her?" He wasn't sure this was the best time, but when was it with him and Sam? "What, she took some cash, she took her cell phone, she doesn't answer, and she bailed on us."</p><p>"I mean, think about what she's going through," Sam said. After everything, she probably just needs some space. We've both been there. We've both had times where we needed time apart."</p><p>Dean wasn't sure that was entirely true. Usually, time apart meant they were furious with each other, or one of them was dead. Or a demon. Or, at best, working with a demon. There weren't really any good memories of them just "taking time apart."</p><p>"And we both came back," Dean said gruffly.</p><p>"You don't think she's going to?"</p><p>"She hates the way we were raised. She hates the fact that we're hunters. Maybe she starts walking, and she doesn't stop." He laughed humorlessly. "You know, she obviously has zero interest in keeping this family together."</p><p>"Well," said Sam. It was his practical voice. "You know, sometimes families do better after a little time apart."</p><p>"Yeah, who? The Mansons?" Dean said bitterly.</p><p>"Alright." Cas broke between them and stopped in front, facing them, so they all had to stop walking. "Listen to me. You are both wonderful, loving men, and you are thirty-three and thirty-seven years old. She may be your biological mother, but she is younger than either of you. She is grieving the loss of her husband and children, and until she can see how good you two are, you just have to be strong, ok?"</p><p>He looked Dean straight in the eyes. "Dean, you are the one that keeps this family together, not her. You will bring her back, in time. Do you understand me?"</p><p>Dean was reeling. He had actually forgotten Cas was there. It had felt like one of his and Sam's normal (probably not-actually-normal) emotional debates about the nature of family that seemed to happen at the weirdest times. And then Cas, just ripping through it with such clarity. He stared back at Cas, then nodded. "Yeah, Cas." His voice was tight.</p><p>Sam seemed confused but kept walking without responding to either of them. They had to hurry to catch up as he approached the farmhouse. Dean tried to grab his arm, but a man came off the porch to greet them before he could say anything to his brother.</p><p>"Hello, can I help you?" asked the farmer.</p><p>"Uh, Abraham Peterson?" asked Sam, "I'm James Morrison. This is my associate Ray Manzarek. Uh, we're your new caseworkers with Child Protective Services."</p><p>Dean was surprised Sam hadn't introduced Cas, but he just went ahead and did it. "And this is our trainee, Freddie Bulsara."</p><p>"Pleasure to meet you," said Abraham.</p><p>"Pleasure to meet you," Sam returned both the man's greeting and handshake.</p><p>"Yeah," Dean said warily, "thought you'd be, uh, you know, long beard, suspenders, big hat." He chuckled, and Sam glared at him. </p><p>Abraham chuckled as well. "We're not that kind of religious." The brothers nodded, and he led them into the house.</p><p>Cas growled at Dean as they walked, "I told you they didn't use modern technology,<em> similar</em> to the Amish, not that they<em> were</em> Amish. You never listen to me."</p><p>They were led into a dark and dreary living room. Dean had grown up with a father trapped in the late seventies and now lived in a fifties-era bunker; he was used to old-fashioned. But this house was just sad. Instead of using natural light to make up for the lack of electricity, the few windows were curtained with ugly brown. Drab wallpaper matched drab couches, and everything was tidy and boring. An old grandfather clock was chiming, which could have been charming, but wasn't.</p><p>"Mr. and Mrs. Peterson," Sam began once everyone was sitting. "We're here because your previous caseworker, Olivia Sanchez, has passed away."</p><p>The couple on the other couch looked at each other sadly and held hands. Dean noticed that while Abraham wore a typically modern zippered jacket and trousers, Gail wore a handmade dress, and her face and hair were plain. Both made the sign of the cross over themselves at the news. </p><p>"What happened?" Abraham asked.</p><p>"We're not sure yet," Dean said.</p><p>"How often did she visit?" asked Sam.</p><p>"Every few months," said Abraham. </p><p>"We liked her better than the other one-" Gail spoke up, "that Beth."</p><p>"And," Sam asked carefully, "what was wrong with Beth?"</p><p>"She hated us because of our faith," Gail said fervently. "Olivia Sanchez was a Papist, but... at least she believed in God."</p><p>"Hmm," Sam said quietly. Dean breathed out slowly and tried not to grin at either his brother or Cas. </p><p>"Do you know God, gentlemen?" asked Gail.</p><p>"Oh, yeah," Dean said. "Yeah, we're besties."</p><p>Cas said at the same time, "He is my father. I met him once."</p><p>The door opened and closed before they could be questioned about either of these statements. Dean thought it was a bit of a shame as he had a whole file of inside jokes about God in his head. A teenager they recognized as Elijah Peterson from the case files came in and whispered something to his father.</p><p>"Oh," Abraham nodded. "Ok. Um... I'm a little embarrassed to ask, but do you think one of you boys might help me with something?</p><p>They looked at each other, and Dean nodded and rose. Cas was stronger, but Dean knew more about mechanics and equipment, so he went out with the Petersons. </p><p>It turned out to be a broken buggy wheel. Cas might have been the better choice, after all, Dean thought.</p><p>"So, what happens when stuff like this goes wrong, and no one's around to help you?" He asked. </p><p>"Pray harder," Elijah said with a sarcasm Dean appreciated. The kid seemed pretty sane, considering his very strange life. Not that Dean had room to talk.</p><p>"See," Abraham said, "I'm not good with all this." He gestured to the farm in general. "I was a computer programmer till about five years ago."</p><p>Dean's surprise carried into his voice. "What made you decide to move out into the middle of nowhere?"</p><p>"Oh, the world out there is all distractions. Consumerism, corporations. And the people, if they're not shopping or stuffing their face, they're sitting in front of some screen, watching fake people do fake things, while the real world just gets more and more screwed up."</p><p>Now he was suspicious. Because that line he had heard a lot. The whole, "oh, the world is such a mess, and people are so gross" might be true, but also, hey?! He'd heard it from Angels and Famine and maybe even from God himself? (honestly, the monologues were running together at this point). So he wasn't buying it from this random guy with a broken buggy. Sure, consumerism and corporations were bad, but was eating a good meal and watching some TV so terrible? He'd done his fair share of both that and saving the world. It seemed like a very judgmental position to take from out here where these people weren't helping anyone. </p><p>"Gail and I," Abraham continued, "we didn't want that for our kids, so... here we are, sweatin' our butts off. The things you do for family."</p><p>"Hmm," Dean nodded, but that made even less sense to him. If this was all for their kids, why let Magda die instead of taking her to a doctor? The lines Dean had crossed and the convictions he'd let go of for family... he just wasn't buying this guy's story. </p><p>"It's ready," Elijah told them.</p><p>"Alright. Let's get this wheel on." Abraham said. "On three. One... two... three." Dean and Abraham held the rudimentary jack in place, so the buggy was lifted, and Elijah slid the wheel onto the axle. "Okay." </p><p>After a bit of tightening up, they finished and headed back inside. Dean recognized Sam's angry voice as they came into the door.</p><p>"God doesn't care what kind of life you live." Sam was saying to a furious-looking Gail. Cas seemed to be trying to stop him, but Sam was charging on. "Trust me. And God didn't kill your daughter. <em>You</em> did."</p><p>Abraham spoke up. "Think you boys should go." </p><p>Dean exchanged confused glances with Cas, wondering how things had gotten so charged in the short time he had been outside, but Cas looked helpless, so they just got Sam out of the house. The walk down the long driveway was quiet.</p><p>Sam and Dean stowed their sweaters in the trunk with the rest of the disguises, but Cas left the blue sweater vest on and just put his suit coat and trench coat over. It was a good thing angels didn't get overheated. </p><p>"Alright, so what do we do next," Dean asked as he opened the weapons bed of the trunk. Sam immediately pulled out an EMF reader. "What's that for?"</p><p>"To track down Magda's ghost," Sam said like it was obvious. "Dean. Those people let their daughter die! She's angry and wants revenge!"</p><p>"Yeah, but they're alive," Dean argued. He didn't know what this was yet, but he wasn't sold on ghost. "Besides, how- how's she getting around town, huh? Ghosts are tied to one place."</p><p>"Or to a person, or a thing!" Sam argued, which was a valid point. "Beth didn't even know the delivery boy!"</p><p>"I know, I already gave up on the Beth thing, Sam. What are you talking about?"</p><p>"Look, you didn't spend alone time with that woman."</p><p>"Neither did you. Cas was there!" Dean said, but Sam kept going.</p><p>"She is disturbed. You're wrong." </p><p>"About what?" Dean was almost shouting now. "I don't have a different theory! I'm just telling you the gaping craters in yours! What is going on with you lately? Are you mad at me? Or at Cas? It's like you won't even look at him!"</p><p>But Sam was just shaking his head. "Fine, we'll see who's right." He said like he was having a completely different conversation. And then he gathered supplies and headed back towards the farmhouse.</p><p>"Please tell me you see this, too?" Dean asked Cas.</p><p>"Yes, when you left the house, he didn't even seem to realize I was there. He's been ignoring me more and more lately. It's strange. I thought we were friends."</p><p>"I don't think it's that, Cas. He seems out of it like he isn't even hearing us, or like he's hearing something else instead of us. We'd better stay close to him anyway."</p><p>Cas nodded, and the two followed Sam into the woods.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>They had to wait for nightfall since that would be the better ghost-hunting time, so Cas and Dean relaxed against a tree to wait and watch Sam, who had settled a bit closer to the barn. </p><p>"So why Freddie Mercury? Honestly, Queen seems a bit more my style than yours." Dean said.</p><p>"So why don't you have any of their cassettes?" Cas asked.</p><p>Dean sighed. "Honestly, most of the tapes are ones my dad collected, and I kept. And he just... wasn't a fan. So I haven't listened to them very much."</p><p>"Ah. It's a shame. I recently discovered Bohemian Rhapsody. It was basically written about you, I think." He smiled at Dean, which had much the same effect as a punch from anyone else. </p><p>"I...uh, I've...heard bits of it, but I don't really know the words," Dean lied. He was just completely blowing smoke. He had every Queen song memorized, but they were on the John Winchester "Don't" list, so they weren't allowed to be part of the carefully constructed persona of Dean Winchester, All-American Man (TM).</p><p>Cas had been on Earth too long. He pulled out his phone, earbuds, and a Spotify playlist. How the fuck did Cas have <em>Spotify</em>? </p><p>"Uh, Cas. How do you know what Spotify is? <em>I</em> barely know what Spotify is."</p><p>"Claire makes me playlists that fit her mood," Cas said as if that made sense. It sort of did, though. "Here." Cas attempted to mash the earbuds into Dean's ears until Dean took over and did it himself, and then the choral intro started.</p><p> </p><p></p><blockquote>
  <p>
    <em>"Is this the real life?</em>
    <br/>
    <em>Is this just fantasy?"</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p>Dean looked over at Cas. It was a good question. Everything felt very surreal at the moment. Sitting here in a forest, with Queen in his ears and Cas looking at him. Even the light was in that strange place between light and dark.</p><p>He brought his knees up and looked to the sky, waiting for the stars to appear as the song wound and changed and took strange loops. It really did seem like his life.</p><p>The song slowed down, and Dean looked back at Cas. The angel was relaxed against the tree but still watching him. </p><p> </p><p></p><blockquote>
  <p>
    <em>"Any way the wind blows..."</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p>The song faded out, and Dean and Cas were left looking at each other, the breeze blowing stray leaves at them.</p><p>Then the next song started, a synthy disco beat, and Dean just dissolved, falling to the forest floor, holding his belly. He tried to keep from giving their position away, but it was so hard to keep from dying of laughter. </p><p>Cas was patting at him, concerned and trying to find where he might be injured, but then the singer began the vocals, and Dean just clutched a hand over his mouth to keep the laughter in.</p><p> </p><p></p><blockquote>
  <p>
    <em>"We're no strangers to lo-ove."</em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p>"Dean! Are you hurting? What's wrong?"</p><p>"Cas!" Dean gasped. "Why. Do you have," The chorus started, and he was crying now. "This fucking song. On your playlist?"</p><p>Cas grabbed the phone once Dean had gotten enough words out. He looked at the phone, confused, and then took one of the earbuds and put it in his own ear. He looked at Dean and raised an eyebrow.</p><p>"I don't understand, Dean. Claire kept sending me this music video, so I assumed this song was important to her and saved it to my playlist. Is there something wrong with it?"</p><p>Dean was still laughing, but he was at least breathing again. "No, it's-it's just such an old joke. I can't even explain. I guess Metatron's pop-culture download didn't include memes?"</p><p>Cas looked confused. "I think he just gave me the plot of every story, which was terribly rude of him. I enjoy understanding a bit more of what you say, but I have all the spoilers and none of the enjoyment of the stories."</p><p>That made Dean a bit sad. "Huh." He said. "I may need to work on that. Anyway. The video is like a joke. People send links saying it's a link to something serious, but it's to this old video of Rick Astley singing 'Never Gonna Give You Up.' I think it's been around as long as there's been internet videos. But, yeah, Claire's been pranking you."</p><p>"Ah. I'm not sure how to feel about that. Pranks are good, I think. But I'm sad I don't know her favorite song. Also... I really like this song."</p><p>Dean had to put a hand over his mouth to muffle his laughter again. "Ok, your next alias is going to be Rick Astley. You have no choice."</p><p>Cas opened his mouth to respond, but Sam started moving, and both of them put their serious faces on and readied for action.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Sam crept around the side of the barn, his LED flashlight extremely bright in the electricity-free farmyard. Dean and Cas stayed outside as Sam went inside and noticed Abraham leaving the house with a lantern.</p><p>"Cows have to be milked very frequently," Cas murmured close to Dean's ear. </p><p>Dean gestured for him to go around the house, and Dean stayed to watch over Sam. The EMF wasn't picking up anything, especially since there were no power lines to give even false positives.</p><p>"Elijah?" Abraham called, and Dean realized the teen had followed his father to the barn. Dean pressed against a crack to hear better. "What's wrong?"</p><p>"Mom's with Magda." The boy said sadly.</p><p>Abraham sighed. "Your mother's doing God's work."</p><p>"She's hurting her." Elijah seemed upset.</p><p>"Son, the Devil's a deceiver. Don't let him sow doubt in you. If anyone found out about Magda, they'd come for her." There was a pause as things were shifted around in the barn. "And if that happened... I love your sister... but you know what she can do. Magda... Magda's our cross to bear."</p><p>Abraham and Elijah made their way out of the barn and back to the house, and Sam followed shortly after. He looked as shocked as Dean felt. He pulled out his phone, but there was no signal, and Dean came up to let him know he was already here.</p><p>"Ok, bro. Let's find this Magda chick. We can figure out if she's evil afterward." Dean said quietly. Sam didn't answer but just kept moving towards the farmhouse.</p><p>Cas motioned to them from beside a cellar window. He was standing carefully beside it, and Dean came over to speak to him. Sam knelt to peek into the window.</p><p>"Magda is alive," Cas whispered, and Dean nodded. "Her mother is reading her scripture in Aramaic and forcing her to self-flagellate. Dean..." He looked at Dean seriously, "We're saving her, no matter what she did."</p><p>Dean could only nod.</p><p>Sam ducked away from the window suddenly and started to walk quickly away from the farmhouse, holding his phone up.</p><p>"Hey," he answered. Dean couldn't tell who was on the other end and exchanged confused looks with Cas. "Listen, Magda is still alive... Yes, Magda's not dead." Dean and Cas were following quietly behind. "She's alive!" </p><p>A shotgun cracked, and Sam turned to see Elijah pointing it at him. "Don't move." The boy said.</p><p>"Okay, listen to me," Sam said quietly. "I can help your sister, okay?" Dean was moving around to get the drop on Elijah in case Sam couldn't talk him down. "I just need you to trust me here."</p><p>Elijah hesitated and looked behind Sam. Abraham stepped out of the shadows with a shovel, but Cas grabbed it from him and pushed him to the ground before he could approach Sam. Dean got the shotgun from Elijah while he was distracted. </p><p>Sam dropped to the ground as if he had been hit with the shovel anyway.</p><p>They all stared at Sam. "What the fuck?" Dean asked Cas, who spread his hands in similar confusion.</p><p>"Okay, okay, okay." Dean paced a bit, trying to think. "Maybe whatever is going on with him, he needs this to play out like we're not here? Like I went after Beth, he tried to stop me, and then tried to call me in the garage but couldn't? Oh! Then I called him, and that's what made him leave the window and made these two realize he was there!" Dean went over to Sam and grabbed his phone. "Uh... yeah, there was no call in the last ten minutes. He just thought he was talking to someone."</p><p>The Petersons were looking very confused. Cas had one foot keeping Abraham on the ground.</p><p>"Then what do you want to do next?" Cas asked.</p><p>"I think we have to play it out. Ok. Elijah." He turned to look at the teenager, who still looked very confused. "You want Magda to be safe, right?" He waited for the boy to nod slowly, then continued. "Alright. I want you to drag my brother inside. Tell your mom your dad is still looking for the other two, alright? I'm going to turn one phone on and put it in Sam's pocket and one in yours so we can hear what's going on. Cas and I will be right outside. We will get you guys out safely, okay?"</p><p>Elijah nodded softly and took Dean's phone to put in his pocket. Dean helped him get Sam up over his shoulders, and he dragged the big man to the farmhouse, Sam's phone on and connected to a call on Cas's phone. Dean's phone wasn't actually connected, but he hoped the bluff was enough to keep Elijah from telling his mother.</p><p>Dean listened on the phone while Cas tied Abraham up in the Barn.</p><p>"Elijah! Where's your father?"</p><p>"He went to go look and see if anyone else was here."</p><p>"Ok, let's take this one down to the cellar. He can stay there for now. We'll have to get him tied up." </p><p>There was a lot of grunting and stumbling. Sam was not a little guy. Eventually, the two seemed to go back upstairs, and a quiet voice started singing on the other end of the line.</p><p>"Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho. Joshua fought the battle of Je-" Her voice was weak and cracked sometimes, "-cho. And the walls came tumbling down. You may talk about your men of Gideon-"</p><p>"Magda?" Sam asked. "Magda?"</p><p>Dean breathed a sigh of relief that he was awake. He nodded at Cas, who had just returned from the barn. "Hey," he whispered, "Can you watch the first-floor windows, and I'll watch the cellar windows?" Cas nodded in response and headed for the porch.</p><p>"Magda Peterson?" Sam was saying on the other end of the phone.</p><p>"That's not my name." The girl's voice replied in a sad tone. "I'm not Magda." Her voice broke. "I'm the Devil."</p><p>Sam breathed harshly over the speakerphone, and Dean could almost hear the bitter laugh he was keeping in. "No. No, you're not. You're really not."</p><p>There was a clanking Dean instantly recognized as chains because his life was messed up like that. He got himself settled at the window and could see the girl, bedraggled and bloody, in a room as satanic as any summoning he had done. These people were seriously fucked up.</p><p>"He's inside me." The girl said. "I can hear him whispering. He lets me hear what people are thinking. He lets me do things."</p><p>"What kind of things?" Sam asked hesitantly. She didn't answer. "Magda," he said softly,  "I'm here... I'm here to help you. Show me. Please."</p><p>It took Dean a moment to realize what was happening, but the heavy metal cross on the table was lifting and floating. Ok, he thought, cool, psychic. </p><p>There was a crash as the screen door opened, and Gail called out for her husband. It was cut off quickly, and soon Dean could see Cas pulling her around to the barn. That was better. At least the kids were safe now. He kept the phone up and headed for the front door.</p><p>Elijah was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. Dean put the phone on speaker and set it in front of the teenager. </p><p>"Magda," Sam's words came through, "you're not the Devil; you're just psychic. There are others out there like you, like- like me. I have powers too."</p><p>Huh. Dean had actually forgotten about that. </p><p>"I'd get these visions sometimes, and- and I could move things with my mind."</p><p>"You can do that?" She asked, hopefully.</p><p>"Well, no, not anymore, I don't think." Sam stammered, and Dean wanted to facepalm. "But that didn't make me the Devil." And now Dean wanted to argue semantics. "It-it just made me who I am."</p><p>"Then you are evil," Magda said sternly, and Sam sighed. "Mother says I'm evil, 'cause I hurt people."</p><p>"Who did you hurt?" Sam asked.</p><p>"I didn't mean it." The tears were thick in her voice, even through the phone. "She was pretty, and she always smiled. And I thought that maybe she could help me. I couldn't talk to her, but I could hear her thoughts. And I thought that maybe I could make her hear mine. So I prayed. And I reached out to her... but she never came. And I did it again with the delivery boy.</p><p>"Mother says I killed them."</p><p>"Magda, that wasn't your fault. You are not the Devil. You're not evil. And it's scary. I know it's scary. But you can learn how to control it. You don't ever have to hurt anyone ever again."</p><p>The voices on the phone went quiet, and Dean decided it was as good a time as any to try and get everyone out. He looked at Elijah.</p><p>"Elijah, do you understand? Your parents were wrong." Elijah was crying, and he nodded, so Dean waved towards the door. "Can you and Cas bring your parents back in here? We should decide what we're going to do."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Soon Abraham and Gail Peterson were tied to two of the dining chairs, and Cas sat in another next to them. Elijah and Dean headed down to the cellar to get Magda and Sam. </p><p>Sam seemed confused to see Dean, but he did seem to recognize him now. He hugged him as Dean untied him, and they both helped Elijah undo Magda's chains. Elijah gently fixed up the back of her dress before they walked upstairs. </p><p>Everyone settled around the dining table, though they had to drag in an extra chair or two. </p><p>"Abraham," Sam started first, "your daughter needs help."</p><p>"What do you think we've been doing all these years?" Abraham asked.</p><p>"Uh, beating the shit out of her?" Dean said harshly, and Gail glared at him for his language. At least that's why he assumed she was glaring at him.</p><p>"You talk about knowing God," she said, awfully prissy for being hogtied to a chair, "but we know the Devil-"</p><p>"That is a logical fallacy called a False Dichotomy," Cas interrupted. His jabs tended to be more polished than Dean's. "We are perfectly capable of knowing both God and the Devil, and unfortunately, on both points, we do."</p><p>"Do you have any idea what she's done?" Gail cried.</p><p>"Those people, but..." Sam protested, "that wasn't her fault."</p><p>"You think they're the first?" Gail said bitterly. "Tell them. Tell them!"</p><p>Magda seemed to shrink into herself, and Elijah did the same next to her. Dean recognized that reaction and glared at their parents. He wanted to rip out their guts. </p><p>"Before we came here," Magda spoke very quietly, "I wanted a new cellphone, but my mom wouldn't buy me one."</p><p>"We were driving home," Gail took over the story, "and she screamed at me to pull over. And I felt the Devil at my hands. I yanked that wheel right into oncoming traffic. <em>She</em> did this to me. She did this to<em> us</em>. She has taken lives. Do you understand that by keeping her here, we're protecting you?"</p><p>"By doing what?" Sam asked, "By beating the hell out of her?"</p><p>"Hey, that's what I asked," Dean protested absently. "And you're doing all this because of your accident?"</p><p>"Pain purges sin." Gail continued as if he hadn't said anything.</p><p>"No, it doesn't," Sam said. "You're wrong."</p><p>"Very wrong." Cas agreed. "I have that on the highest of authorities. Anyway, what should we do with these two?" He waved a disgusted hand at Gail and Abraham.</p><p>"I say we call the cops on this one," Dean suggested. "I mean, there is tons of evidence in the cellar. We just go with the FBI thing, get Beth to back us up, say we were checking up on things here, show them what we found."</p><p>"What?" Screeched Gail, "No! You can't! We must all die here together! We will enter heaven as a family!"</p><p>"Uh, no, you won't, crazy-pants," Dean said, "because <em>you</em> definitely aren't going to heaven."</p><p>"Dean," admonished Cas. "You shouldn't call people 'crazy'. It offends the actual crazy people. Apparently. I don't quite understand."</p><p>"What about us?" Magda said quietly. </p><p>"Well, your case said you'd be eighteen by now, right?" Dean asked. "Do you guys have any non-cra- fine, 'normal' relatives?"</p><p>"We have an aunt."</p><p>Gail and Abraham started to shriek again, so Cas got up and put a hand to each of their foreheads, and they slumped down, chins to their chests.</p><p>The teenagers gasped in shock, and Dean realized no one had filled them in. "They're just sleeping," Cas assured them kindly.</p><p>"What are you?" Magda asked, her face filling with wonder. "I can't read your thoughts; I just get like... an aurora."</p><p>"I'm an angel," Cas said matter-of-factly, as he always did. As if it didn't blow people's minds and change their entire view of the universe. "And I don't think it's wise to send Magda away until she has learned to control her powers. She should come to the bunker with us and train."</p><p>Now Dean glared at the angel. He was very uncomfortable having a teenager who could read thoughts living in the bunker with them. At Magda's strangled giggle, he put his face in his hands.</p><p>"Oh my God, fine. For now. This is going to be a nightmare."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>"<em>What? It's three, Dean!</em>"</p><p>"Hello to you too, buttercup. I need a favor."</p><p>"<em>Of course you do. Why am I friends with you again?</em>"</p><p>"Because I'm awesome. Anyway, I need you to sort of make Cas a legal foster parent."</p><p>"<em>Is this a prank? You're not allowed to prank me at three in the morning!</em>"</p><p>"Unfortunately, I'm completely serious, and I need it fast. I got a teen psychic that we have to keep in our custody, and her little brother is under eighteen. So we have to make sure they don't get shipped off to their aunt in Nowheresville. And Cas gets to be Daddy Day Care because apparently, his brain is all Rainbow Connection instead of regular shitty thoughts like the rest of us mortals."</p><p>"<em>Ugh, whatever. Fine, I'll do the magic, but you owe me so much coffee.</em>"</p><p>"Always, Princess."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>They had the Petersons restrained with more professional looking zip-ties when the ambulance and police arrived. It was a bit of a mess. Crime scene techs and uniformed cops were all over the farmyard. It felt like a scene Dean should be escaping, not staying in.</p><p>When Gail was brought out, she was shrieking at everyone in the vicinity, "She's the Devil! The Devil is among us! She must be cleansed! She is the Devil! Pray for us!" Over and over again. The local detectives helped her into the police car without responding. Abraham didn't put up any kind of a fight at all. </p><p>"Hey, you thought our family was crazy," Sam said to Dean as they walked through the chaos.</p><p>"Yeah," Dean sighed. They came up to the ambulance, where the paramedics were taking care of the most immediate of Magda's injuries. Cas had had to be reminded not to heal Magda before the paramedics could look her over, so her injuries would match her statements. </p><p>Since they were leaving this case to actual law enforcement, things had to be done right. They couldn't just run away after this either. They would have to go to the hospital and get Magda fully checked out, and document the evidence of abuse for the court case.</p><p>"Hey," Sam said quietly to Magda, "How are you holding up?"</p><p>She nodded jerkily and quirked a shoulder. The shock of everything was catching up to her. "Beth and Cas got the paperwork settled, so he can foster Elijah, and I can stay with them."</p><p>"He said he lives near you?" Beth asked the brothers. "And he says he lives out in the woods with lots of fresh air."</p><p>Dean nodded. "Yeah, we see each other pretty often. And y'know, sometimes to figure things out, a person needs some air." Sam looked over at him sharply.</p><p>"Agent, can I talk to you?" Beth asked Dean and pulled him aside. "Hey, I've gotten Castiel's paperwork. I guess Knowles was a name he was using on a recent undercover assignment?"</p><p>"Oh, yeah." Dean had no idea what Charlie had done with the paperwork, but he played along. "Sorry about the confusion."</p><p>"It's alright. I just wondered if you would be willing to sign as another reference for Agent Novak's foster care file since you work closely with him. His records look good, but he seems a bit... awkward." Beth hesitated at the end. "It's not too late to call their aunt if he's uncomfortable."</p><p>"Hey," Dean protested, "sure, he's not great with new people, but he's a really good person. He really wants to help these two. And he's actually surprisingly good with teens. Uh," he smiled as he looked over at Cas, who was talking to Elijah, "so he's been really trying to build a relationship with... a foster daughter that moved out before he could get to know her. She was in a bad spot for a while, and he did everything he could. And then she got moved on to another home, but he still tried, y'know? He bought her this stuffed cat. It's so dumb. I tried to take her mini-golfing once... anyway, the point is. He tries. And she sends him Spotify playlists now when a year ago she screamed that she hated him." </p><p>Dean looked back at Beth, who was giving him a look of dawning comprehension.<em> Fuck</em>. </p><p>"He just really cares about helping kids in trouble," Dean said defensively.</p><p>"Yeah, I get it." Beth smiled gently at him, and Dean cursed himself. "Here, sign here."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>They divided up the team again, much to Dean's frustration. Cas went in the ambulance with Magda to the hospital to start doing tests, and Elijah got a ride there with Beth. Sam and Dean walked down the driveway to the car by themselves again. </p><p>"Do you think we're making the right call, taking her in?" Dean asked his brother.</p><p>"I hope so," Sam said, which wasn't encouraging, exactly. "I mean, Magda didn't know what she was doing. She had no idea. I think she deserves a second chance."</p><p>"True. We've screwed up plenty knowing exactly what we were doing." Dean commented.</p><p>"What did Beth want?" asked Sam.</p><p>"She gave me her number. Her personal number." Dean lied. </p><p>"You were going to shoot her." Sam protested.</p><p>"Not since like the very beginning!" argued Dean as his phone chirped. Sam held up a hand before Dean could either get in the car or check his phone.</p><p>"Hey, um..." He started. "Did you mean what you said back there?"</p><p>Dean sighed. "Yeah, you were right. This whole 'Mom' thing, it's just. I mean, we get her back, and then she leaves. I hate it, but I get it. I do. I guess I'm just working through some crap. I'll try to be less of a dick about it."</p><p>"Deal." Sam agreed though Dean wasn't sure what he was getting out of this deal.</p><p>He pulled out his phone while Sam got in the car, expecting an update from Cas. Instead, there was a message from Mary, replying to his text from a couple of days before.</p><p> </p><p></p><blockquote>
  <p>
    <strong>Dean - Hi, mom, just checking in. Is MOM still okay or weird? Should I call you Mary?</strong>
  </p>
  <p>
    <em> <strong>Mary - Hey Dean, phone died, didn't have a charger. Things are good.</strong> </em>
    <br/>
    <em> <strong>Mary - I'll always be MOM. Tell Sam I love you boys.</strong> </em>
  </p>
</blockquote><p>"What?" Sam asked.</p><p>Dean considered not showing Sam the text, but he thought about Cas's words. He had to be the one to bring this family together. No one else would.</p><p>So he dropped into the driver's seat and handed the phone over. "So I texted Mom a few days ago. She just texted back."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>The hospital parking lot was busy at seven o'clock. Sam had stayed at the hotel, but Dean had been jittery again, so here he was, parking beside a black motorcycle. Cas was coming out just as Dean got out of the car.</p><p>"Hey Cas, how's it hangin'?" Dean leaned back against the Impala with a wide smile.</p><p>"Hello, Dean." Cas seemed harried, grabbing Dean's elbow and dragging him back towards the hospital doors without acknowledging his presence.</p><p>Cas led him through the doors, and Dean tried to make him move out of the way of doctors and nurses who seemed busy. Cas had a way of walking that meant everyone else had to move, which was... not an unattractive way to walk, but they were in a hospital.</p><p>They got to Magda's hall just as another man was pushing in through her door. </p><p>"Hey!" Dean yelled. Not dressed in scrubs, the man wore black motorcycle leathers and had a tattoo or something on his right hand. But there was something of a hunter about his stance, and Dean immediately clocked him as a bad dude. The man looked up at the yell and saw them, then booked it for the stairs. "Cas!" Dean called, "Check the kids!" And he gave chase. </p><p>The moment he was in the stairwell, Dean paused to orient himself. He grabbed the gun from his back waistband and held it ready, scanning the levels immediately above and below. There was a crash as a door closed on the ground level, and Dean bolted down the stairs. He shoved the gun back in his waistband, not wanting to frighten civilians. But when he reached the ground floor, there was no sign of the man in the crowded hallway.</p><p>Dean took the elevator up. His adrenaline was racing, but honestly, he was exhausted after two days awake. He reached Magda's room, and the relief to see Cas and both teenagers alive was a bit overwhelming. He sat down hard in the chair by the door. </p><p>"Guy got away. Sorry. I didn't get much of a look at him. I think he had some kind of a marking on his right hand. We gotta get you guys back to the bunker."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>Interlude: Driving</strong>
</p><p>The Impala was crowded again. Castiel sat in the backseat with Magda slumped into his side, sleeping. Elijah was next to her, sometimes sleeping, sometimes staring restlessly out the window. At the moment, he was asleep, his weight adding to his sister's. It was far from too much for Castiel to bear, and he found their gentle pressure and soft snores soothing.</p><p>Magda's tests showed extended malnutrition and multiple infections, as well as the more obvious wounds and old scarring. The hospital had not approved of them leaving early, but Dean had spun an intricate story of danger to the girl's life that was somehow completely false even though she truly was in danger. So the doctor gave her prescriptions for antibiotics and pain medication as Dean had told them she would be moved to a safe house for the time being.</p><p>Even the bunker wouldn't feel as safe as this, though, Castiel thought. The big black car, crowded with these fragile lives. A warm space in a cold universe. Sam was asleep in the front passenger seat, his head leaning on the window. And Dean was driving.</p><p>Castiel had once told his brother Lucifer that he considered driving to be slow and confining. In a way, it was still true. Driving was nothing like flying. Dean might consider it to be complete freedom, but Cas knew true freedom. To drive in a car after soaring through the heavens on waves of light was like climbing into a snail's shell and asking it to hurry up, please.</p><p>Indeed, most car journeys still felt like that. But this car felt more like the destination than the trip itself. He could climb into this snail-shell and never ask it to hurry. Because... Cas let himself look at Dean; there wasn't anywhere else he would rather be.</p><p>Driving was indeed slow and confining. Like a long hug. With these children he had helped save, who trusted him enough to sleep against his shoulder. With the soft giant in the front seat, who was his brother in all ways but blood. With Dean, who should feel like a brother but didn't.</p><p>With Dean, who was the center of Castiel's entire universe and the love of his very long life.</p><p>With Dean, who would never love him in the same way.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm very excited to bring in Magda and Elijah and see how they affect things! I couldn't just let them get killed. Gotta save some of these female characters!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox (roll down the highway)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Winchesters go to a wake and meet up with... more Winchesters! They also piss off an angel, a demon, and a reaper along the way, so not a great day.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Yes, I skipped an episode, you didn't miss anything. Nothing happened in that episode! So yeah, they went and killed Hitler. It took like a day. I'm not gonna write 10,000 words about it.</p><p>Holidays took a lot out of me. I'm very worn out, but this chapter finally got finished and edited! Yay! Hopefully, now I'll be back on track. Sundays might be more of a posting day than Thursdays though. Oh, and I have a guestimated chapter number up for my season 12 rewrite! And I do plan to keep going, I just wanted to have like a mark that I was working towards. And a Pause if not an End.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dean knocked on the familiar door. There weren't a lot of familiar doors in his life. Very few he came back to over and over. He was happy this was one of them, especially as Jody opened the door with a smile.</p><p>"Wow, you look terrible! What's wrong?" She asked cheerfully. </p><p>Dean chuckled. "Sure, we'd love to come in." He gave her a hug and a peck on the cheek as he came in.</p><p>"Hey there," Sam said. He hugged her and kissed her cheek too, and they all made it into the living room. It was as comfortably plaid as any place the brothers had ever decorated, and Jody herself was wearing the flannel pajama pants. "Yeah, we just, uh, finished a hunt in Brookings," Sam said. </p><p>"And you couldn't take a shower first?" She complained. </p><p>"Ha-Ha." Sam retorted maturely. "Figured we'd stop by on the way home, see you, Claire, and Alex."</p><p>"Aww, that's fun." Joy smiled. "Unfortunately, the girls are in Omaha for the weekend, being angsty at a Radiohead concert." Dean nodded, feeling only slightly disappointed. He had been excited to see the girls and tell them about the latest Winchester chaos and the news about their sort-of foster-cousins. In the crazy way that none of them were actually related. Well, DNA-wise, Cas and Claire probably still were.</p><p>"But I can feed you," Jody finished.</p><p>"Yes, alright." Dean paused, "Oh, uh... since the last time we saw you?" He grinned. "I killed Hitler." Sam gave an exasperated gesture and headed for the pizza.</p><p>Jody looked confused. "Thank you?"</p><p>"You're welcome," Dean said smugly.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>When they had their pizza and settled down in front of the TV, Jody already had a show or movie started. It opened with a purple beachy sunset thing and a couple kissing, and Dean just felt the urge to shove Sam out of the room and/or run out himself. </p><p>He spoke with his mouth deliberately full, "Jody, you watching some kind of chick flick here?"</p><p>She looked at him, unfazed. "Well, Dean, I'm a chick."</p><p>"No. No, no, you're- you're a badass sheriff chick. You're not a-a rom-com chick." He sat up. "Wait, are you a rom-com chick?"</p><p>Jody just asked him evenly, "Are you?" curled up in her flannel pajamas in her plaid armchair.</p><p>Sam piped up from where he was settled deep into the cushions, "He's more of an animated Japanese erotica chick." Because he was the worst brother on the planet.</p><p>Now Jody sat up with interest, her eyebrows raised. "Really?" But her tone was curious, not condemning and Dean was a bit surprised. She even sat forward, seeming eager to hear more, when the television interrupted this horrible conversation.</p><p>"I need to leave this scintillating conversation," she said as she left.</p><p>Dean glared at Sam, who was still so deep in the couch, he might need the jaws of life to be retrieved. "Don't tell her that." He complained.</p><p>"Don't tell her what?" Sam asked.</p><p>Dean gestured helplessly. "It's Jody, man."</p><p>"Dude," Sam said, "Be proud of your hobbies. Make sure you are."</p><p>Dean changed the channel to something more appropriately sports-oriented as Jody came back. Her attitude had completely changed though. She walked right past them, wiping her nose.</p><p>"Jody?" Sam called and managed to get himself out of the couch while Dean covered the food and turned off the TV. </p><p>The boys followed her to her room where Jody was packing a bag. "Jody, what's up?" Dean asked quietly.</p><p>"Friend of mine died." She said bleakly, her voice breaking.</p><p>"Who?" Sam asked.</p><p>"Asa Fox." Her voice was so soft as she said his name, and Dean could tell the tone of their relationship pretty fast. The name also tugged at something in Dean's mind.</p><p>"Asa Fox. Why does that name sound so familiar?" He asked.</p><p>"Isn't he the guy that Ellen used to tell stories about back at the Roadhouse?" Sam said.</p><p>"Yeah!" Dean remembered now. "Supposedly he killed like five wendigos in a night."</p><p>"Yeah." Sam agreed."</p><p>"Yeah. Yeah, he was a hunter." Jody said, still packing. "He uh, he rolled into town a few months back, tried to convince me he was FBI Agent Fox Mulder." Her voice was fond. "He was chasing a pack of ghouls and I helped. He'd pass through every once in a while after that, and we'd grab co-coffee or... something." Her voice was choking up, and she whispered, "Oh, he was a good man." With a sniff, she pulled the tears in and forced more words out. "The- the wake's tonight, and, um, they're gonna salt and burn the body tomorrow. I can't believe I just said that like it's something normal."</p><p>"Well, we're gonna come with you," said Dean firmly, and Sam agreed.</p><p>"You don't have- I'll be fine." Jody waved them off and turned away.</p><p>Dean looked at Sam, not sure how to convince her to let them come. Sam spoke up, "Yeah, no, Jody - we know you'll be fine, but... you know, we never go to Hunter gatherings, outside of bars. Dad always said they were trouble, so..."</p><p>Dean grasped where Sam was going and plastered on a smile, "Yes, you'd be doing us a favor if you let us tag along."</p><p>"Thank you." Jody stopped for a moment and just looked at them. Dean wanted to hug her, but wasn't sure if that would make her feel better or worse right now. "you gonna have to get cleaned up before we spend five hours in the car together. Yeah." </p><p>So he gave her a big smelly hug anyway.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>"<em>I cannot believe you are leaving the country right now, Dean!</em>" Cas was raging on the other end of the video call. He had called just as they were about to leave the gas station, so Dean had reluctantly let Sam drive and Jody take shotgun so he could talk. Charlie had gotten them enough data that he didn't have to worry about a long video call.</p><p>"It's a little run-up to Canada, Cas, just a tiny trip, I promise. We'll be back soon."</p><p>"<em>YOU LEFT ME WITH TWO SHUT-IN TEENAGERS, DEAN!</em>" At this, Jody turned around and had her curious eyebrows up again. "<em>They know even less about the real world than I do!</em>"</p><p>"Cas, just stay in the bunker. Everything in there is like from the fifties, so they should be fine. Just teach them to do the laundry and stuff. Don't do any big stuff until I get back!"</p><p>"Oh my god." Jody took the phone away. "Hi Cas, how are you?"</p><p>"<em>Uh, Jody, hello. It's good to see you. I didn't realize you were with Dean and Sam. I apol-</em>"</p><p>"Why do you have teenagers?"</p><p>"<em>Oh, well, there was a psychic girl and her brother, and her extremely religious parents were abusing both of them, but especially the girl. So we removed them from the home so we could help her learn to control her powers.</em>"</p><p>"She accidentally killed two people trying to get someone to save her," Dean said quietly.</p><p>Jody nodded like this was all a reasonable explanation. "Ok, you gotta stay calm. It's good to keep them stable, get a routine. Simple ones, like, we have breakfast at nine, we are going to learn something at 11, we're going to eat lunch at 12. Movie and dinner at 5, Shower and bed at nine. It should help keep their anxiety lower if they know what to expect."</p><p>Cas was looking overwhelmed over the video, but he was furiously writing everything she said down. She paused occasionally to make sure he was keeping up. Dean was so relieved she was in the car with them.</p><p>"Then just have some simple activities they can do around the bunker. Laundry's not a bad thing. Letting them control their own things can be very freeing for some abused kids. Put out puzzles, let them wander outside. Just make sure the cars are well secured and they can't get to them or the keys.</p><p>"Also! Make sure there is plenty of food. I don't have the specifics of their trauma, but it's a good idea to make sure there is always food available, and easy for them to get to. Nonperishable food, in case one, or both, start hoarding it. You don't want it to spoil.</p><p>"There's a lot more, but I think that should get you through the weekend. Keep it calm and simple for now. Don't try to wow them with shiny things. I'll coordinate more with Alex and Claire and we'll get back to you, ok?"</p><p>"<em>Yes.</em>" Cas was emphatic. "<em>Thank you, Jody.</em>"</p><p>"Hey, what are their names and ages?"</p><p>"<em>Magda is eighteen and Elijah is fifteen. Technically I'm only Elijah's foster parent. We thought they should stay together.</em>"</p><p>"This is a good thing you're doing. You can handle it."</p><p>"<em>Thank you. Um... Jody, do you think Claire will... be upset that I am doing this?</em>"</p><p>Jody seemed to think about it carefully. "I think that depends on why you're doing it."</p><p>Cas paused a moment to think as well. "<em>I'm doing this because of Claire. Because of her, and because of... other children who shouldn't have to go through such horrible things alone without a responsible adult to help. I can do what I can to protect her and train her until she can protect herself. And to give her a safe place to be a child for a little longer. Because I couldn't give that to Claire</em>."</p><p>"I'll tell her you said that. I think she'll understand. </p><p>"<em>Thank you again, Jody.</em>" Cas hung up the call.  </p><p>Jody swiveled around to look at Dean. "DEAN WINCHESTER. You kidnapped two children?"</p><p>"NO!" Dean protested. "First, they are teenagers! Second, we legally fostered the one that's under eighteen after getting their parents arrested for beating the shit out of her and forcing them all to live on a farm with no electricity. And third, hey!</p><p>"Cas isn't even a human being? How does he have enough legal paperwork to be a legal foster parent?" Jody argued.</p><p>"Ok, so Charlie hacked into-" Dean saw Jody's mouth and eyes open wide. "-Ok, there may have been a few more things we didn't tell you yet. But, look! We're already here!"</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Dean Winchester was many things, but he was not an extrovert. Little in the world frightened him like walking into a house full of people he had to talk to. And this was a really big house with a driveway full of cars.</p><p>"O Canada," he grumbled as he got out of Baby.</p><p>"That is a big house," Sam said. His brother was slightly better with people than Dean, but not much. They'd grown up very undersocialized.</p><p>"Family home," Jody commented. Her voice was tight. "Asa was just a guy."</p><p>The house was even more packed than the parking area had promised. It sounded like a bar, though, loud music and beer bottles and chatter. That helped soothe Dean's nerves a bit. It didn't look so fancy on the inside, either. Hunting trophies on the walls and more plaid and pockets on the mourners than his own closet held.</p><p>"Oh, Jody," called a very drunk woman in a black dress and pearls. "Thanks for comin'." This woman seemed to actually fit the house, unlike everyone else.</p><p>"Mmm." Jody hugged the woman. "Loraine, of course. How you holding up?"</p><p>"Well, it's a house full of <em>loud</em>," she turned to yell towards the other people, "drunk, Hunters... and my son's dead body is in the parlor. But I haven't killed myself yet." She gave a wry smile and held up her whiskey glass in a toast. "Small victories."</p><p>Sam was hunched to make himself seem smaller and less threatening. He did that sometimes, when he wanted to be kind, he pulled his shoulders in and down. "We're very sorry for your loss." He said quietly. </p><p>"I know," Loraine said bluntly. "Everyone's sorry." She walked away.</p><p>"So..." Jody said slowly, "this is gonna be fun."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Dean wandered into the kitchen to find a beer. He found a bunch in a metal washtub with ice and pulled one out.</p><p>"No label," he muttered to himself. "Well, that's a red flag."</p><p>"Nah, fully safe," said a voice behind him. "I homebrewed it myself." Dean turned to find a red-haired man with a buzzcut and a beard in red plaid flannel rolled up his forearms. "Here," he said, taking the bottle from Dean, "not a twist-off." He used the bottle opener tied around his neck to open the beer.</p><p>"Ah," Dean said eloquently.</p><p>"Oh, I hope you like strong beer, buddy," he said as he handed the bottle back.</p><p>Dean took a swig and nodded. "That's good," he said appreciatively. "Uh, Dean Winchester." </p><p>The flannel man looked shocked. "<em>The</em> Dean Winchester?"</p><p>Another man sitting at the kitchen table turned to stare at him, too. "No freakin' way. Aren't you dead?" He looked for confirmation from his buddies as he continued. "Like four times?"</p><p>Dean forced a smile and joked, "Yeah, it uh, didn't take." He honestly would rather be in literal hell.</p><p>Yet another hunter, a thin guy in a bright red button-up and string tie, said eagerly, "Wait. Your brother here? Sam?"</p><p>"Yeah, he's here. He's still alive too..." Dean trailed off as the man pushed off from the table and rushed from the room. "Oh. Okay, good talk."</p><p>"Yeah, sorry about Elvis," said Flannel guy. "He's uh... Elvis. I'm Bucky Sims." He shook Dean's hand.</p><p>"Randy." The other man held a hand out as well. "Randy Bull. Ah!" He pulled his hand back and held his fingers up like horns, "Watch out for the horns, right?" </p><p>"Hey," Dean chuckled awkwardly. "Uh, you two Hunters?"</p><p>"Yes, sir," Randy said proudly. "Did you know Asa?"</p><p>"No, no, I never met him," Dean said. "But, uh, heard some crazy stories."</p><p>Randy and Bucky looked at each other conspiratorially. </p><p>"Yeah," Bucky asked, "like what?"</p><p>"What?" Dean said, "I mean, come on, no one can take out five wendigos in a night."</p><p>Dean flinched a step back in response to the sudden noise in the room.</p><p>"Eyy!" Bucky yelled, "Our famous friend said the magic words. Drink up!"</p><p>Looking around in confusion as everyone cheered and drank, Dean asked, "'Wendigo,' is that, uh..."</p><p>"Again!" Bucky called, and Dean decided that maybe he didn't like this guy.</p><p>"Okay," he said, wishing desperately that he'd never insisted they join Jody. He took a long drink of the beer.</p><p>"Stop saying that or we're not gonna make it to morning," Randy said.</p><p>"Didn't know the rules," Dean said, shoving the smile back onto his face.</p><p>"If you think the stories about Asa are crazy," Bucky said, coming closer to Dean, "you should hear what they say about you."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Dean got out of the room as quickly as possible, making excuses about needing to pee. He honestly didn't want to know what the stories said about him. If they said he was a hero, he would feel like a fraud. If they said he was a villain, it would only reinforce his own guilt. </p><p>He found a study that seemed empty and hid in there. On the desk, there was a very familiar item in a glass case—an angel blade.</p><p>They made him think of Cas, even now. It shouldn't, by all rights. He had several of his own, as did Sam. It was just another tool. Another weapon in his arsenal. But every time he saw one he thought of it materializing out of Cas's sleeve; thought of him spinning it in battle with a kind of confidence he rarely showed. </p><p>Dean opened the case and pulled out the blade to check it out. The cold metal felt familiar in his hand.</p><p>"Hey," Sam called from the doorway.</p><p>"Oh, hi. This is a real Angel Blade," Dean commented. "I mean, this guy was legit."</p><p>"Did you know people tell stories about us?" Sam asked. Apparently, Elvis had found him. </p><p>"Yeah," Dean huffed. "Apparently, we're a little bit legendary." </p><p>"Yeah, but I mean, so was Asa." Sam protested. "Then a hunt went bad, and he ended up hanging from a tree, alone in the woods."</p><p>"He died on the job," Dean said casually. "No better way to go." He wandered around the room, looking at maps and such.</p><p>"You really believe that?" Sam asked. </p><p>Dean wasn't sure why he was asking. What was the point of asking? He was going to die on this job at some point or another. It was just a matter of making it count, and making Sam safe and happy enough that the big idiot wouldn't drag him back topside. </p><p>He turned and met Sam's eyes steadily. "Yeah. What, you don't?" He didn't know exactly what to say here. He wanted Sam to want more for himself, but not to expect more from Dean. "If you want to end different, we're going to have to make some changes, because if you haven't noticed, we're not in the 'live till you're ninety, die in you're sleep' business. This," he waved at the wall of pinned newspaper articles and maps and other detritus of hunts. "This only ends one way."</p><p>"We should get back," Sam said quietly.</p><p>"Yeah." Dean agreed. "Oh, uh, Don't say 'wendigo' to anyone," he warned because he would always look out for his little brother.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>By the time night fell, a lot of the party had left. When the brothers rejoined the party in the living room, Bucky was telling a story to Jody, Lorraine, Randy, Elvis, and a man he hadn't met.</p><p>"It was classic. Until you two," Bucky gestured at Jody, "snuck off for some sweet, sweet time alone."</p><p>"Ooh, yeah." Elvis crowed. </p><p>"'Sweet, sweet time alone?'" Dean repeated, finally able to give Jody his own curious eyebrow.</p><p>"You, Jody?" Sam asked. "You didn't tell us you were in a relationship with Asa."</p><p>"Oh, it was just- it was just a casual thing," Jody stammered. "Sorry, Loraine."</p><p>Loraine shrugged loosely, quite drunk. "Asa was always popular with the ladies." </p><p>"Yes, he was," a young man with light brown skin and mischievous eyes said playfully. "Our mom loved him. She used to talk about him all the time."</p><p>"See?" Loraine lifted her glass.</p><p>"And, you know," Jody said, "I do have a life when you guys aren't around."</p><p>"Beer anyone?" Randy asked, and the others replied if they wanted some. He headed out for the kitchen.</p><p>"And, uh," Jody continued, "here's a newsflash- dating is hard. It's not like I just turn into a boring small-town sheriff when you guys are gone. I do stuff. I hunt. I meet people. It was no big deal. Right? You shouldn't be surprised I'd enjoy the company of a ruggedly hot man."</p><p>A girl swaggered into the room with a couple of beers and said, "Amen to that."</p><p>"Can't argue with that," the young man on the couch agreed. The girl sat next to him, and Dean guessed they were siblings, not a couple, by the identical head tilts and speculative looks they gave Jody.</p><p>"Hey," Dean said to Jody, "you clearly deserve your sweet, sweet time alone."</p><p>"Well, I mean," Jody said uncomfortably, "it wasn't always sweet."</p><p>"Uh," Dean really didn't want to think about that, "yeah. It's just not how we think of you. You know? I..."</p><p>"Good," she said. "'Cause that would honestly be weird."</p><p>"Nobody- nobody said you can't date, right?" Dean said, slightly defensive. He laughed uncomfortably.</p><p>"That's fair," she said, clearly giving him a way out.</p><p>"Come on in," Loraine called out. "Don't hover."</p><p>"Sorry, I knocked."</p><p>Everyone in the room turned to look at Mary Winchester.</p><p>It felt a bit like seeing her for the first time all over again. He wasn't sure where all the air in the room had gone, but it certainly wasn't in his lungs. </p><p>"Door was open," Mary said softly. </p><p>"Hi," Dean managed.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Sam was pushing Dean and Mary away from the rest of the party and Jody was trailing along behind. Dean was thankful someone else was figuring something out. The panic was scraping at the edges of his brain, how did he just keep everyone from fucking <em>leaving</em> this time. </p><p>"What are you doing here?" Mary asked.</p><p>"What are<em> you</em> doing here?" Dean asked right back.</p><p>The door opened as they passed through the hall and Charlie came in. She paused a minute to take in the Winchesters.</p><p>"What are you doing here?" Charlie asked.</p><p>"That seems to be the general question, yes!" Dean said grumpily.</p><p>"We, uh," Sam cleared his throat and tried again. "Asa was a friend of a friend." He waved a hand towards Jody. </p><p>"Jody!" Charlie shrieked, just now noticing the sheriff. She threw her arms around the other petite woman.</p><p>"<em>Charlie?</em>" Jody said in shock. Honestly, Dean hadn't known that they had ever met, but apparently, he didn't know much about Jody's personal life. "But you were..."</p><p>"I got bet'er, though!" Charlie said in a weird British accent. Dean got the joke but didn't try to explain it to anyone else. </p><p>"Friend of Jody's," Sam continued. "Jody, Mary. Mom, this is Jody Mills."</p><p>"Mom? Wait, your mom?" Jody tried to confirm, her arms still around Charlie.</p><p>"Yeah," Sam said quietly.</p><p>"I thought- I thought you were.." She trailed off uncomfortably.</p><p>"I was," Mary said quietly.</p><p>Jody just breathed out a soft "wow." And then and excited one. "Wow!" She let go of Charlie and threw her arms around Mary. "It is so nice to meet you!" Mary looked stunned. Jody drew back to arm's length to get a good look at her and just gasped. "Wow!"</p><p>Then she turned to look at Sam and Dean. Dean was already looking at the floor in shame, knowing the scolding that was coming. "I'm gonna, I'm just gonna give you guys, some um, some family time."</p><p>She turned to walk away, but a glare from Charlie had Dean grabbing her wrist. "Jody, wait. You're family. You know you're family."</p><p>She nodded, then put an arm around Charlie's shoulder and they backed off to wait on the stairs.</p><p>"Hey, how've you been?" Dean asked Mary.</p><p>"All over. I went back to Lawrence for a few days. And uh, I've been using John's journal to retrace a few things. Try to catch up on what I've missed."</p><p>"Hey, hey," Dean said gently. "I'm not interrogating you. Charlie's kept us mostly in the loop, though apparently not about <em>Canada</em>!" Charlie stuck her tongue out at him in response to the loud remark.</p><p>"Dean, come on." Sam scolded, and Dean put his hands up in surrender.</p><p>"It's ok, he's right," Mary said. "But... this is something I needed to do alone. Listen...  most of the people I knew are dead. And then I remembered Asa. He was so young when I met him, I thought he must still be around. And then... I saw an article about his death. So, uh."</p><p>"So you'll text us once a week, maybe, but you-" he stopped, his throat tight. He turned. "I need a minute."</p><p>He heard her call for him, but he headed for the door anyway and she and Sam didn't stop him. Jody and Charlie did, though. They pounced right at the door, blocking his way.</p><p>"She keeps saying that!" Charlie complained. "'This is something I need to do alone! 'Alone and<em> unaided</em>!'" she quoted dramatically, and Dean snorted and glared. She had sullied his brain with her stupid cult tv shows. "Look, we've been taking it slow. She doesn't seem to notice I'm here half the time. I just stay with her, put food in front of her, and credit cards and good ID in her wallet. It's going okay, but I don't know what's going on in her head."</p><p>"Hey," Jody cut in. "You okay?"</p><p>"Swell." Dean pushed the word out.</p><p>"Huh. Is that why you spent the entire ride up here telling me in extreme, excruciating detail how you killed Hitler, but, uh, you neglected to mention the fact that your best friend adopted two teenagers, your adopted sister or, oh yeah, your <em>mom</em> is back from the dead?" Jody saw that Charlie was about to open her mouth and said, "No, no peanut gallery right now, let me talk to him for a minute. Shoo." </p><p>Charlie held her hands up in surrender and wandered off.</p><p>"Yeah," he said softly. "No big deal."</p><p>"That's a lie." Jody just called him out on it.</p><p>"Jody," Dean started, but she went ahead.</p><p>"Look, maybe this isn't my place, and this is epic stuff, but, you know... if I could have my husband and son back? I mean... <em>really</em> back? I would give anything, absolutely anything to have that. And it would scare the hell out of me."</p><p>"Yeah?" Dean asked. Maybe someone did understand.</p><p>"Yeah. 'Cause what if I'd changed? What if they changed? What if it just didn't work out the way I wanted?" She smiled gently at him and he nodded. "If you want to talk about anything, absolutely anything, I'm here."</p><p>Dean pulled her into his arms tightly. "Thanks, Jody." </p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Charlie followed Dean outside. She stood quietly to the side as he took a drink from his flask and leaned on his beloved car, just watching him. He tried to ignore her. </p><p>"I'm sorry I'm such a smartass," she said eventually. "Sometimes I just can't help the words that pop into my head."</p><p>He laughed dryly. "Well, I've done it myself enough times. No big deal."</p><p>She came over to sit on the hood of the car next to him and took the flask from his hand to take a sip herself. "Wow, that's better than that horrible beer in there."</p><p>"Yeah, Bucky's homebrew is not good." They were quiet for a minute and then he said, "I'm so tired of avoiding talking about how I'm doing. How are you doing since you got back? I know it's been chaotic, but... are you okay?"</p><p>She thought for a moment. "It's weird. On the one hand, I want to be like yeah, I'm fine! Totally good over here! I mean I'm not being hunted and I do feel weirdly freer than ever." She shook her head grimly. "But..."</p><p>Charlie stood and paced a little. Dean realized that her hands were shaking, and he wondered what else he'd been missing. She raked her fingers through her wavy hair.</p><p>"I'm also kind of a mess, Dean," her voice shook as much as her hands. "I'm terrified, like all the time! I have to leave the bathroom door open and take really short showers because I'm so scared of being alone in a motel bathroom. Because I was murdered in one." Her voice choked on the word.</p><p>She went on, still pacing, "And I'm scared Mary will leave without me. I sleep in front of the door so she'll wake me up if she tries to leave. It's not even that I'm scared of losing her for you! I've got her phone GPS on, and her truck tagged. I can find her if she wanders off." Her head was in her hands now. "I'm just so scared of being alone."</p><p>Dean wrapped himself around her, pulling her into his embrace. He had tears running down his own face, too. He had already been choked up from encountering his mom and talking to Jody. This just brought up too much. He could still see her bloody body lying in that bathtub. It would never stop haunting him.</p><p>"I'm so sorry." He whispered into her hair. "I'm so sorry we got there too late. I'm sorry you were alone."</p><p>That broke the dam for Charlie and she sobbed into his coat. "Please don't leave me alone this time."</p><p>"We won't. I'm going to keep us together this time. All of us." It felt like a vow.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>They were sitting quietly on the edge of the Impala's hood, Dean's arm around Charlie's shoulder as she breathed slowly. Loud heels clipped across the cobbled stone of the drive, and Dean called for the person to leave them alone.</p><p>"You're not the boss of me," came the retort in a very familiar tone. Dean turned to see Billie, a reaper he'd met a couple of times, standing in the driveway with them.</p><p>"Billie, what are you doing here?" He asked.</p><p>"My job," was her sarcastic retort.</p><p>He chuckled. "Well, I'm not dead yet."</p><p>"I remember you," Charlie said softly.</p><p>Billie looked at her and tilted her head in confusion. "Yes. I took you, didn't it? Why are you back here?" She turned a glare on Dean. "Winchester, what have you done now?"</p><p>"Hey, I didn't do it!" He held his hands up in surrender. "We're pretty sure Amara did." </p><p>Billie took Charlie by the hand and pulled her off the car to stand. Then she walked around her, inspecting the human woman from all sides as Charlie stood awkwardly. </p><p>"No," the reaper said confidently. "Whatever happened with you, your fate was changed. You're not on my list anymore."</p><p>"What?" Dean and Charlie exclaimed together.</p><p>"Anyway," Billie brushed their confusion aside, "I'm not here for either of you tonight. I just finished inside. I was reaping a fresh soul." </p><p>Dean was rushing for the door almost before she got the sentence out. The front door wouldn't open.</p><p>"You can huff and puff," Billie said, "but that house is on supernatural lockdown. They can't even hear you."</p><p>Dean started slamming himself into the door, panic rising. He picked up a stone statuette off the ground and hurled it at the door. The stone crumbled, and the door stood unharmed.</p><p>"What did you do?" He accused Billie.</p><p>"It wasn't me," she said. "I don't get my hands dirty. <em>Rules</em>. I just clean up the mess." Dean put his face in his hand, trying to think past the fear. She continued, "Still, between us, it's always nice to see a Winchester who can't get what he wants."</p><p>"You think this is fun-" Dean started.</p><p>"Oh my <em>fucking</em> God!" Charlie stepped between the two. "Hey, back up, lady. I don't know who the fuck you are, but you are not helping things here!" She turned back to Dean. "Hey, take a deep breath, ok. Mary, Sam, and Jody are all in there together. They'll take care of each other, alright!" Charlie pushed Dean to sit on the porch steps and forced his head down to his knees. "Just breathe while I talk to the scary bitch, ok?"</p><p>She turned back to confront Billie, who seemed a bit thrown by this little redhead bossing around Dean Winchester. "Ok. Please. Can you just cut him a tiny bit of slack and tell him if you reaped his mom, brother, or Jody? Otherwise, we are just going to get panicked Dean, and that leads to cosmically bad choices."</p><p>"Uh..." Billie said, trying to take the conversation back, "everyone dies." </p><p>"Yes, we do. And some of us die more often than others."</p><p>"Hey," Dean said suddenly, looking at Billie, "you got in there to reap that soul. You can get me in there!" </p><p>"I could..." Billie drawled.</p><p>"But that is a trap," Charlie guessed. "Or a deal?" </p><p>"It's a one-way ticket," Billie said, and then nodded at Charlie. "And you're gonna owe me one."</p><p>"No, Dean," Charlie protested. "If she's already reaped someone, then they're already gone. The others are strong. Please. We can't make more bargains."</p><p>"Charlie, Sammy's in there. My mom is in there. And Jody." Dean pleaded.</p><p>"I know, Dean," Charlie said softly. "They are all strong hunters. They all know their stuff." She went for the low blow, then. "Dean, you have to stay here with me. You can't leave me alone out here."</p><p>Dean looked up at her sharply. He knew she was saying it on purpose, but, at the same time, it was true. There was no way Billie would take both of them through, and he couldn't leave Charlie alone out here. He rubbed his hands over his eyes. </p><p>"Do the wards keep out cell service?" He asked.</p><p>Billie seemed shocked but shook her head. "No, they're just physical wards. Really, Dean? You're not going to charge in to save the day?"</p><p>"She's right," he pointed his thumb at Charlie. "I hate it, but it's true."</p><p>Billie shrugged. "Alright. I've got another soul in there to reap anyway." She disappeared.</p><p>Dean's anxiety was through the roof as he called Sam, and he was thankful when his brother answered quickly. "Sammy, what's going on in there?" He put the phone on speaker.</p><p>"<em>Demon named Jael.</em>"</p><p>"Mom and Jody ok?" </p><p>"<em>Yeah.</em>"</p><p>Dean breathed out a sigh of relief. "What do you know?" he asked.</p><p>"<em>He's turned off the water and power. And he had Alicia and Elvis before, but he's loose now. We're drawing a devil's trap in the living room.</em>"</p><p>"Who all is in there?" </p><p>"<em>Me, Mom, and Jody. Then there's Loraine, Bucky, and the Banes twins, Alicia and Max. He killed Randy and Elvis already. We haven't found anyone else in the house... I'm talking to Dean, he's outside with Charlie.</em>" The last part seemed directed to someone else on the other end of the phone. </p><p>"Is there anything we can do from here?" Dean asked helplessly. He looked up. Charlie had sat down on the steps next to him. Surprisingly, Billie had returned, leaning against the porch rail next to Charlie, listening in.</p><p>"<em>I think if we try to keep everyone in the living room and you recite-</em>"</p><p>"<em>Sam!</em>" Came Jody's voice, close enough that Dean could hear it through the phone. "<em>This is awkward, I'm owning that. But the demon... I think it's in your mom.</em>" Dean's blood went cold, but he knew they'd all recovered from far worse things than demon possession. </p><p>"<em>She looks ok to me,</em>" said Sam, which was a ridiculously naive thing for a 33-year-old hunter to say, and Dean sort of wanted to slap him on the back of the head.</p><p>"<em>I may not know much, but I know people don't 'look' possessed,</em>" Jody said. "<em>No, I saw her sneak out of the room when you started talking about the devil's trap. Where did she go? I mean, I know she's family, but Sam...</em>" Her voice was panicked now, and Dean knew for sure that that was not her. </p><p>"Sam," Dean whispered, "that's not Jody, but you cannot hurt her. You know that right?"</p><p>"<em>Uh, Jody thinks that Mom...</em>" Sam said, confused. He put the phone on speaker.</p><p>"<em>No,</em>" Jody said, loudly now, "<em>I don't think! I know! I know SHE'S A DEMON! Kill her! Use the blade! Kill her now!</em>"</p><p>"<em>Wait, hold on a second,</em>" Sam said, "<em>Jody you don't sound like yourself.</em>" </p><p>"Oh my god, this is agony," Billie muttered. "How do you all stand yourselves?" </p><p>"Obviously Jody's the demon!" Charlie said, smacking her head lightly against the rail behind her, "Come on, Sam!"</p><p>Jody started laughing weirdly on the other end of the phone call. "<em>Can't blame a girl for tryin'. Ahh, I'd so hoped you'd kill your mom! Wouldn't that be a riot?</em>"</p><p>"Yeah, super fun," Dean commented, rubbing his eyebrow. He was pretty sure he was getting a migraine from not being able to do anything out here.</p><p>There were crashing sounds as someone, probably Sam threw themselves at fake Jody. A short silence, then "<em>Anyone else? No?</em>" Came from fake Jody.</p><p>There was a crash and then the sound of a blade skittering across the floor. </p><p>"<em>No, Mom!</em>" Came Sam's voice.</p><p>"<em>This is what we do! She's a demon! We kill demons!</em>" That voice was Mary.</p><p>"<em>No, but she's Jody!</em>" Sam's voice again. Dean was almost crushing his phone in his grip. He left the phone on the step and went to tug uselessly at the door handle.</p><p>"<em>Boring!</em>" Called the demon with Jody's voice. There was a clap of hands and a crash. Dean held his breath and watched Billie to see if she was going to go reap more souls. She didn't leave though.</p><p>"<em>Oh, I have heard so many stories about you Winchesters,</em>" chattered Jael dramatically.</p><p>"God help us, she's going to monologue about you," complained Billie. Charlie elbowed the incarnation of death in the side.</p><p>"<em>And...</em>" Jael continued, "<em>I desperately want the Lucifer thing to be true. The idea that he left a meat suit alive is just so deliciously weak. As for the rest of you, I have been inside your heads, I know all about you! For example, the twins. Too frightened to tell anyone they actually came to say goodbye to their Daddy.</em>"</p><p>"Ok, that's enough of this. Exorcizamus te, omnus immundus spiritus..." Dean knelt by the phone as he recited the entire exorcism, joined by Charlie and the others as they got their voices back gradually. Jael screeched and there was crashing as she tried to shut the others up, but Dean's voice was steady, and Sam seemed to keep the phone from being destroyed. </p><p>With a final scream, the noises stopped.</p><p>Dean was through the door in an instant. He patted Sam down for injuries, then looked Mary and Jody over. Everyone seemed battered but intact. Jody had a cut on her arm that seemed to be the worst injury on the survivors.</p><p>"Jody, are you ok?" Sam asked.</p><p>"That...sucked," she moaned.</p><p>Bucky hadn't gotten off the floor like the others, though. He was laying on his back and Billie was standing over him, looking terrifyingly regal. Her leather jacket shone gold in the candlelight and her black curls waved in an invisible breeze.</p><p>"Who...what are you?" the hunter stammered.</p><p>"I am a reaper." She said, her voice full of gravitas. "I don't like to interfere with matters. But you were meant to learn a lesson tonight, and you didn't."</p><p>"What?" Bucky choked out.</p><p>"I took two souls tonight because of a demon named Jael. But the one I took yesterday was not slain by him." She said pointedly.</p><p>"Bucky, what did you do?" asked Loraine.</p><p>"Asa, he was just al- he was just always so stubborn." Bucky protested, but his voice was guilty and everyone turned to stare at him.`–"Look, we were in the woods. Jael, he- he was taunting him. Asa wanted to chase him, but he didn't have the Angel Blade. I said, 'Let's go back.' He called me a coward and he shoved me, so I shoved him back, and he fell... and he hit his head. I didn't mean to do it. But it was a mistake—an accident. I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do. Asa hated that damn demon so much that I just..."</p><p>Dean was angry now. Not that there had been an accident, he had no room to judge someone for hurting a friend on accident. He had even hurt his friends on purpose on occasion. But to defile his friend's body like that was a step too far. And Dean had always claimed his own sins.</p><p>"Oh, you thought that people would buy that Jael had killed him? So you hung your best friend to cover your own ass?" He had a flash of memory, <em>Cas's face bloody and beaten on the floor of the library and his angel blade sticking out of a book next to him</em>. Dean had hurt his own best friend enough to know the guilt of it, and he couldn't even conceive of treating Cas's body like this man had done to his friend's.</p><p>"What are you going to do to me?" Bucky asked like that was even important. Selfish bastard. Dean didn't have an answer.</p><p>Alicia did, though. "Tell everyone," she said. "Tell every hunter we meet. They're gonna know your name, Bucky, know what you did."</p><p>"You like stories?" Max added. "This is the story everyone's gonna tell about you. Forever."</p><p>Billie nodded, seemingly appeased, and vanished.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Dean stayed on watch while the others got some sleep in the barely-tidied living room. He was back to keeping everyone within visual range except short bathroom breaks. It was not a well-fortified area, but it was the only place to keep everyone for now.</p><p>By dawn, his eyes were itching and his bones felt hollow. Every year the staying awake all night got harder. </p><p>The pyre had been built the day before, and it just took a bit of alternate arranging to get three bodies to fit instead of just the one. Dean was probably a bit too comfortable with arranging bodies on pyres, honestly, when it just felt like a logistics problem to him.</p><p>Dean, Charlie, and Sam waited over by the truck while Jody, Mary, and Loraine had some time watching the bodies burn. Loraine eventually went to talk to the twins, and Jody and Mary spoke for a few minutes alone. That made Dean nervous, but he let them be. He trusted Jody. When Mary was alone, Dean got Sam and Charlie's attention and they went over to join her.</p><p>"Mom?" he said softly, so she would know they were there.</p><p>"You okay?" Sam asked.</p><p>"She's really not." Billie's voice came from the other side of the pyre.</p><p>"Billie?" Sam asked.</p><p>"You were supposed to owe me one," Billie said, seemingly put out. She came around the pyre to stand with them.</p><p>"Uh... sorry?" Dean said, confused. "I'd rather not owe you anything though."</p><p>"Yeah, yeah." Billie waved him off. "See, I'm a big believer in what dies, stays dead. Laws of the universe and all that. You all," she waved an accusing hand at the four, "are huge pains in my ass."</p><p>"I didn't ask to come back here," Mary said harshly.</p><p>Billie turned to study the youngest of them closely. Her brown eyes were piercing. "No, you didn't. And you hate it. The look in your eyes, I've seen it before. It's a dead man's look- eyes that say no matter where you go or what you do, it feels like this world doesn't fit anymore. Like you're all alone."</p><p>"Well, she's not alone," Dean said, coming up to stand to one side of Mary. Charlie flanked on the other side, nodding her head in agreement.</p><p>"Tell me I'm wrong," Billie said, not breaking eye contact with Mary.</p><p>There was a quiet moment. Mary didn't answer, and Sam's eyes turned heartbroken. He looked at Mary with disbelief and pain and Dean wanted to make Billie disappear.</p><p>Billie stepped up close to Mary, "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to offer you mercy. A one-way ticket upstairs, away from all of this."</p><p>"How would it work?" Mary whispered.</p><p>"And, nope." Dean cut in. </p><p>"Mom..." Sam was about to cry. </p><p>"You just kill me again?" Mary pressed on.</p><p>"Mary!" Charlie was pushing at her shoulder. "You can't do this."</p><p>"Reapers don't kill people," Billie said. "Rules."</p><p>Mary turned to look at them. At Sam, who's eyes were bright with tears, at Dean who was about to kill a reaper and Charlie who was shaking Mary by the shoulders.</p><p>"Then," she said to Billie, "I guess you're just gonna have to wait."</p><p>Billie shook her head and her lip twisted in a smirk. "Winchesters. You all drive me out of my mind. If I find you brought one more of you back into this world, I swear, I will give up my rules and reap every last one of you and dump you in the empty." She pointed at Mary. "If you change your mind, I'm still willing to take you and only you to heaven. You know my name." She waved at Dean and Sam, "You two monsters are still on my shit list." Then she turned to Charlie. "And I will figure out who changed your fate, little red." </p><p>With a wink at Charlie, she disappeared.</p><p>"Does this mean you're coming home?" Sam asked Mary hopefully.</p><p>She nodded shyly, "Yeah." Then she looked at him. "Not quite yet. I just need a little more time." </p><p>Dean watched Sam shrink into himself and for the first time, he was actually angry at his mother. He settled his shoulders. "Look, let's talk about it at breakfast, ok?"</p><p>"Bacon?" she asked. </p><p>"All the bacon," he promised.</p><p>"I would love that." She said. </p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>They got Jody and packed into the Impala to go to breakfast. Waffle House seemed the easiest to agree on, so they headed there. Dean used the drive to start planning his campaign. It wasn't just selfishness, he reasoned. Cas had given him a mission to bring their family together.</p><p>Dean asked the waitress for a quieter table, and they were placed in a corner booth. Waffle House didn't exactly have secluded spots. He motioned Charlie and Jody into one side of the booth and Mary and Sam into the other. Dean took a chair and sat at the end. He waited until everyone had ordered before starting his argument.</p><p>"So, Mom," Dean began. He kept his voice calm and kind. "I understand that you are really struggling with being back here. It's alright, and we want to give you some room to work on it. But we're really not sure running off alone is the best option for you or us."</p><p>Mary stared at him. "But, I have to go," she said, confused.</p><p>Dean looked at Charlie and she took up the reins. "You really, really don't," she said. "We can find a safe place for you in Lebanon if you aren't comfortable living in the bunker. You don't have to feel trapped in a place with us. But, it's also not healthy for you to wander around alone while you're feeling so depressed and detached."</p><p>Mary looked at Charlie for the first time and tilted her head, "but I haven't been alone, have I?"</p><p>Charlie smiled at her. "No, but it doesn't always feel like you can see me. And I'm not sure we're the... best fit to travel together... I mean-" she took a deep breath and looked to Dean for reassurance. He nodded and she continued. "I like traveling with you, but I don't feel safe right now. The way I died... I was alone and running and I need some stability. I thought this was going to be a short trip, like with Cas. I need some stability now."</p><p>Mary nodded slowly. "So you're going to go home with them then," she said to Charlie. "I understand. I can go on alone."</p><p>Sam was silent through all of this. His eyes just kept jumping from person to person helplessly. Jody was quiet too, but she was just thinking. Their food arrived and Dean waited to speak until everyone was arranged again and the waitress had left.</p><p>"Mom, I really think you should consider coming back with us, too. It's not just about Sam and me, either. We've picked up a couple of teenagers that we're trying to help." He waited until Mary looked at him curiously, then continued. "Especially Magda. She's psychic. We thought about sending her to Jody..." He glanced over to her.</p><p>Jody held her hands up, "Hey, my house is angsty enough right now! I have my two teenagers. You can deal with your own. I'll give my advice and help, but you have custody."</p><p>Dean nodded and met Mary's eyes again. "I want to be clear. I don't want to manipulate you into coming home. I'm not going to beg, and Sam won't either. I won't give you a sob story about Magda and Elijah or tell you that we can't figure it out without you. We can. I'm not going to put you in a corner. You don't have to come back, and we won't cut you out if you don't. </p><p>"I just want to say, that I think it's better for you if you come home. We can help you. I know you barely know us, but we understand the craziness you're going through more than Joe Plumber. We've seen death, we've all lost family. Everyone but Jody has been dead, though none of us as long as you, I'll give you that. </p><p>"But we know time weirdness," Dean tangeted. "I mean, I was in hell for forty years and came back and it had only been four months."</p><p>Mary stared at him and Dean realized he hadn't actually told his mother that little detail.</p><p>"I mean... Sam was in hell for like a hundred and fifty years!" He tried to divert her attention.</p><p>"Hey!" Sam finally found his voice. "I barely even remember any of that. Between the smashed wall and Cas taking the crazy away, it's sort of blurry, thank Chuck."</p><p>"What the fuck?" Mary managed.</p><p>"Ok, so we're not the picture of mental health," Dean admitted, "but we're trying, and we keep trying to hold whatever threads of family we have together. And we would like you to be a part of that. Like Jody and Charlie are. We've had a lot of family, but we've lost a lot, too. And not much of it was blood. Jody gets to be the fun aunt and Charlie's our little sister. Alex is our niece-slash-cousin, and Claire is-"</p><p>Sam stepped in, "Claire is my niece, but she's Dean and Cas and Jody's weird daughter somehow."</p><p>"Ah," Charlie cackled, "I never got to meet her! I've heard things, but I have to meet this girl."</p><p>"Oh no," Jody said, "you and Claire are never allowed to meet, ever. That is my new law."</p><p>"My point is," Dean said, "that there is a safe place for you. And we do want you there for our own sakes as well, I don't deny it. Sam and I miss you and really want to get the chance to actually get to know you as a person. There's purpose for you too, if you want it, in helping with Magda and Elijah because they need all the comfort they can get. And just..." he sighed, "we would like you to come home."</p><p>Mary seemed to struggle with herself. "I... want to, but it's like, I'm not... supposed to?"</p><p>"Fuck<em> 'supposed to'</em>!" Dean exclaimed. He got a couple of glares from nearby patrons. "If you want to come home, then come home."</p><p>Sam was looking conflicted too. "I know what she means, though, Dean. It's like, she isn't in this part of the story or something."</p><p>"What?" He put his face in his hands and breathed deeply. "Ok, are either of you going to have a meltdown if I try to bring her home anyway? We need to talk to Cas about this."</p><p>"I don't know," Mary said. "I don't feel like I need to be anywhere <em>else</em>. But I can't go to the bunker. Not yet."</p><p>"Ok," Dean grinned at the loophole, "What if you just happened to end up in Lebanon? Not in the bunker, of course. Just in the town."</p><p>Sam and Mary nodded. "That sounds fine," Sam said. "It doesn't feel wrong."</p><p>"Ok, let's get moving then, and figure out what son of a bitch is writing the script here, oh, shit, I think I already know." Dean definitely had a migraine.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>They gave the truck to Jody. Mary offered to drive herself and Charlie back to Kansas, but Dean had just leveled a glare at her and she had handed the keys over. Dean told her to give it to Claire as a present, but then Jody had reminded him of the truck's dubious origins (Cas had just stolen it from a guy trying to help him get off the side of the road). </p><p>"I'll ditch it a few miles from town and have one of the girls pick me up." Jody decided. "That way, we get rid of one stolen car for good, and I don't have to cram into a car with four Winchesters." She winked at Charlie who smiled happily at the inclusion.</p><p>Dean did agree to let the others take turns driving, though he claimed shotgun because the petite girls could take the backseat with its limited legroom. He was exhausted.</p><p>He slept the whole journey back, with short breaks to pee and get a drink. Sam shook him awake when they were about ten minutes outside of town. It was around supper time. Dean would be worried about ruining his sleep schedule if he had such a thing.</p><p>Instead of heading for the bunker, Sam turned into a small apartment complex near the center of town.</p><p>"So," Charlie filled Dean in, "we got Mary a furnished apartment. It's about a fifteen-minute drive from the bunker, just like a grocery run. It's a nice little one-bedroom, and I was able to get her paperwork all sent in over email and phone calls. We just have to work on getting her a car as soon as we can. A legal one."</p><p>Dean rubbed his eyes. "Yeah, I gotta work on cars in general. I need to get you and Cas reliable cars, too. Ok, I'll see what's in the garage."</p><p>They left Charlie there to get Mary settled. Dean hugged his mom tightly and promised to meet her for breakfast in the morning. Then he hugged Charlie and promised that Sam would be back to get her soon and she would be home with them that night.</p><p>Sam dropped Dean off at the bunker with takeout for the teens and then went to go get groceries for themselves and supplies for Mary's new apartment. The girls kept texting every couple of minutes as they thought of something new they needed.</p><p>Dean trudged into the bunker. He called a general hello and there were loud echoes of movement through the halls. Magda came around the corner from the study room first, then Elijah tumbled in from the stairs to the garage. Cas came in from the hallway towards the archives with more dignity. </p><p>Elijah hugged Dean first, and with the most excitement. He started chattering about the cars in the garage, and Dean had to hold back a wince at the thought of the kid touching a single one of them. </p><p>Magda's hug was more ginger, and he was careful of the still-healing wounds on her back. They were keeping her under human doctors' care for the moment so that her parents could be fully charged with abuse. It had been a difficult decision, but she had made it herself. She knew she could ask Cas to heal her anytime she wanted, but she wanted justice, and the current pain was worth it to her.</p><p>"Hey," Dean smiled at Cas, "glad to be home. You guys manage alright on your own?"</p><p>"Dean, you have to teach me how to work on these old cars!" Elijah said. "Cas wouldn't let me touch anything!"</p><p>Dean gave Cas a grateful look. Magda spoke more quietly. "I mostly read."</p><p>"Well, I got burgers. Sam and Charlie are setting Mary up in an apartment in town and then they'll come home. I need to get laundry started and take a shower before they get home because they'll probably want to meet you guys and talk and sh- stuff." </p><p>They took the takeout bags from him and Dean headed towards the laundry with the two duffel bags he had thrown over his shoulder. </p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Dean sat on the edge of the ancient washing machine in the bunker. It had to be babysat and kicked every once in a while. He really needed to get a full washer-dryer set if there were going to be so many people living here full time.</p><p>Cas leaned against the side of the doorway and smiled at him. "Elijah's named that thing 'Behemoth', or BeeMee for short. I think they appreciate the slow transition between no technology and high tech that the bunker gives them."</p><p>Dean nodded. "Yeah, this thing sucks, but it works well enough. We should probably get something bigger with so many people here though."</p><p>"Yes," Cas agreed. "And the children are threatening me with new clothes as well."</p><p>Dean raised an eyebrow but let it pass. He noticed Cas was still wearing the sweater vest he had gotten him. It looked soft on him.</p><p>"Anyway," Dean waved the thought away, "we gotta figure out what's going on. Sam and Mom are doing the whole following the script thing again. I convinced Mom to come to Lebanon at least, so that's good."</p><p>Cas nodded, "We can work with that."</p><p>"So, other than the eight-hundred-pound gorilla, got any ideas?"</p><p>"I don't have any ideas that relate to primates at all," Cas said with wide eyes. "Do you have a gorilla, Dean? If not, I want you and Sam to stop tempting me with the idea of furry mammals."</p><p>Dean leaned his head back and laughed. "Sorry, Cas, the gorilla is Chuck. Like he's this huge thing we just aren't talking about. If we're following some script it's gotta be his, right?"</p><p>"Oh, right. Yes, he is the obvious hand behind this."</p><p>Sighing, Dean rubbed his forehead. "Why just them, though? Oh, we saw Billie, just so you know. she says Amara didn't bring Charlie back, so we got another player on the board."</p><p>There was a static silence and Dean looked up to see Cas's smile had dropped and the angel was glaring at him like he could smite him from three feet away.</p><p>"Um..." Dean held his hand up.</p><p>"Dean, <em>why</em> did you meet with a reaper? What happened?"</p><p>"Uh, so there was some drama at the wake." Dean started.</p><p>"I cannot leave you two alone for one <em>fucking</em> second, can I?" Cas growled at him. Dean shivered. </p><p>"Hey," he protested. "Honestly, I missed most of it, I was outside talking with Charlie and Billie cause she was there to reap somebody. It wasn't any of our faults this time, either. Jody got a tiny bit demon-possessed, she's better now, ok, but other than that, we were all completely fine! I didn't even make any deals with Billie!"</p><p>"That sounds extremely specific, Dean," Cas pointed out. "Did she offer you a deal? Let me guess, you were stuck outside and wanted to get inside the damn<em> demon</em> house?"</p><p>"Umm..." Dean hung his head and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, but Charlie stopped me. Anyway," he looked up, "everything is fine! We don't owe her anything, Jody is fine, and I'm home, and they'll be home soon!"</p><p>Cas grumbled, "You're an idiot." He sighed. "I'm glad you're home safe, Dean. And I'm glad Charlie was there to stop you from making stupid decisions. Why don't you go shower and we'll introduce her to the other troublemakers?"</p><p>"Okay."</p><p>"Dean?"</p><p>"Yeah?"</p><p>"Good job bringing them home."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Miracle of miracles, some in-universe laundry has actually been started. Now I must go fold my own, actual laundry.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Rock Never Dies (who calls the tune/i really wonder who)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>There is chaos to be dealt with at the bunker before they can run off to LA to tussle with Satan.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So this chapter was actually really hard to write. This episode never really connected to me and seemed weird and disjointed, so it was really hard to just focus and write. Not to mention I happen to live in America and the whole January 6 domestic terrorism kind of distracted me this week :(</p><p>Also... guys, the bunker is fucking insane. I know they have a budget. I know they have to reuse sets and stuff. But it makes mapping the things impossible. But I'm working on it. I actually have it half-finished. it will be my fudged version because obviously, NO version of the bunker is going to work because it's an impossible paradox with rooms on top of rooms and bedrooms that move.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was time to organize themselves. Dean sat down at the kitchen table with a pad of paper and started a to-do list. It quickly expanded to need a bigger chart, so he sighed and made sections.</p><p> </p><p></p><blockquote>
  <p>To-Do:<br/><strike>-Assign rooms, get stuff for kids</strike><br/><strike>-get cars figured out</strike></p>
  <p>Bunker Organizing:<br/>- Assign rooms officially<br/>- Get stuff for kids rooms<br/>- Get Charlie's shit for her setup<br/>- Get bigger table in kitchen?</p>
  <p>Shopping<br/>- Need groceries again... also toilet paper<br/>- Kids clothes<br/>- Cas clothes</p>
  <p>Transportation Shit:<br/>- Sell bunker cars<br/>- Buy cars legally, but under aliases<br/>- Need 3-4: Cas, Mom, Charlie, and maybe Sam?</p>
</blockquote><p>Dean was pretty sure if he could manage to sell the pristine 1920's Model T Ford that they had in the garage, they'd be able to buy whatever they wanted. Plus, there were a couple of other cars and several motorcycles from the '50s. It would be hard, and he would keep Dorothy's motorcycle, but he could bear it.</p><p>There was already a certain car he was looking at for Cas. He may or may not have already emailed the owner.</p><p>He had no idea if Mary would want something modern or something familiar. Charlie would probably want something with more computer parts than mechanical. Sam would want something super boring and inconspicuous. Cas, though, would let him choose something cool.</p><p>Speak of the angel; he came into the kitchen with his ducklings wandering in behind him. A look at his watch showed Dean it was noon, one of the teens' "scheduled" meal times. Dean got up.</p><p>"I'll make food," he told them. "You guys can chill." He started digging through the food fridge for sandwich ingredients. The fridge on the left side was only for spell ingredients and not for eating things. Dean was still campaigning for them to move those somewhere else entirely. Sandwiches weren't fancy food, but they would fill them. The fridge was already alarmingly empty, even though it had only been four days since Sam had on their return from Canada. But he found turkey slices, a few pieces of cheese, mayo, carrots, and a bag of mixed salad. There were bread and a lone bag of potato chips in the cupboard. He laid everything out.</p><p>"Soup's on!" He called.</p><p>"That is not soup." Cas didn't even look up as he retorted. Dean was pretty sure they'd had this exchange before. He grinned. </p><p>"Well, not yet, but it kinda turns into soup in your belly." He replied.</p><p>Cas looked up then and regarded Dean thoughtfully. He nodded. "That is true. I accept the idiom."</p><p>The teens were loading up plates, and Dean went over to sit beside Cas. The angel was looking over the list Dean had made.</p><p>"Don't you already have rooms?" He asked, tapping the first point. </p><p>"I thought we did, but then we invited Mary to pick a room, and she picked yours because you never decorate, so it looked empty. And now she's going to be living at her apartment. The bunker is just too much for her. Charlie needs a room, but she said she wants to be upstairs near the workroom. I think she just doesn't want to share a shower."</p><p>Magda and Elijah sat down at the table with them, and Dean continued. "When Sam and I found the Bunker, it was such a relief to not be in the same motel room, let alone the same car, that we just picked rooms on opposite ends of the dorm area. Partly for space, and partly so we could each have our own shower room. But now, we don't want you guys to have to share with us, and Charlie doesn't want to have to, so we need to figure it out."</p><p>At the moment, Magda and Elijah were both staying in Room 15, which was basically just the guest room, since Cas and Mary had both stayed there at times. The room numbers were a little non-sensical through the bunker, but the dorm area basically made sense, with rooms 11 and 12 at one end and 21 and 22 at the other end. There were two 14 and 19s: shower and toilet rooms, respectively, bracketing the dorms. Dean had Room 11, and Sam had Room 21, and those were the only assigned rooms.</p><p>"I could move if you want," Sam said uncomfortably from the doorway.</p><p>Magda shook her head and said nervously, "I don't want you to have to move. That would make us upset, too. We've talked about it a bit while we looked around the rooms. We thought It might be nice to have rooms 18 and 20 if we aren't going to share? They share a wall, so we would feel close to each other, but they face different hallways, which is cool." She shrugged and folded back in on <em>herself.</em></p><p>Dean nodded. "That sounds fine to me. Sam, you don't need to move rooms, but would you mind starting to use my shower room? Then whoever else could have the one on the other side. Cas, you can use ours whenever you need a shower." He held up a hand to stop Cas's argument, "yeah, I know you don't need them, but I mean <em>if</em>."</p><p>He shrugged and waved over Charlie, who had come to seek coffee before he continued, "And we can put Charlie up in one of the 30s numbered bedrooms upstairs, or she can have a room down here. We can split bathrooms by gender or age or whatever you guys are comfortable with, I guess?" He filled her in, "Sam is going to stay in his room, but switch to using the bathroom and shower on my side of the dorm."</p><p>Charlie hummed sleepily, "I think I'd rather stay down here, then. I'm happy to share with Magda, and I think Elijah should choose where he's more comfortable. It's ok with me if he uses our bathroom. I just can't handle that," here she waved towards Sam, Dean, and Cas, "much dick in my life."</p><p>"I don't even use the shower and bathroom," Cas said, clearly offended. "Also, I may be currently male, but I have had female vessels in the past."</p><p>Dean and Charlie both turned to fixate on him like a target. </p><p>"Plural vessels?" Dean asked, "As in, not just baby Claire?"</p><p>"Like, adult female Castiel?" Charlie pressed.</p><p>"Yes," Cas was barely paying attention to them; he had gone back to studying Dean's list. "In the late 1800s, I was assigned to a mission on Earth and took the vessel of one of Jimmy Novak's great-grandmothers. She was about thirty at the time. Dean, what kind of car are you planning to get me?"</p><p>Dean was gaping too much to answer. Sam, Charlie, and Magda were grinning. Elijah just got up to make another sandwich. He clearly didn't care.</p><p>"So, you were a hot, thirty-something brunette with pretty blue eyes in a <em>VICTORIAN GOWN</em>?" Charlie's question ended in a squeal. </p><p>Cas looked up, confused. "I have no idea if she was hot. And I didn't wear a gown. We were on a mission. I wore a sensible walking skirt and tailored overcoat. Hm. It was very much the same color as my trench coat. Anyway, it was not a pleasant mission, and I'd rather not think about it anymore," he finished crossly. </p><p>Sam walked around the table and pushed Dean's mouth closed. </p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>They divided up the chore list. Charlie and Sam went with the teens to shop. They were going to split up in town once they picked up Mary. Mary, Magda, and Elijah were supposed to get things to personalize their bedrooms and get them clothing. Charlie was shopping for equipment to set up her "lair," and Sam would get groceries. Dean and Cas took the cars one by one to nondescript locations and photographed them thoroughly to be listed online. </p><p>It was a very long day, but by the time they all collapsed in the kitchen again, Sam, Charlie, and the teens at the table and Dean and Cas leaning on the walls, the jobs were done. Photos taken, shopping completed, and shelves stocked.</p><p>There were bags and bags of things that needed sorting lining the hallway outside the kitchen, but they had all decided to deal with them later. Sam had brought takeout, and it covered the island. </p><p>"We really should go eat in the library," Dean mentioned, but no one left. Cas started handing out food, and Dean and Sam sat on the floor to eat. Charlie got up and got herself a beer, ignored the adults, and brought Magda and Elijah each a soda after a round of begging. Dean poked at Sam until he grumbled and got up to get beers for the other adults. </p><p>They talked as they ate. Dean demanded that Cas and Charlie pick rooms. Cas argued since he didn't actually sleep, but Dean glared him down. Charlie picked Room 18, across the hall from Magda. Cas picked 12 because it was "out of the way." He got more glares for that, but they let it go. </p><p>Once everyone had eaten, they started dragging out bags and handing things to the right person to put things away. Magda and Elijah were running things to their rooms, and Sam was putting groceries away.</p><p>There was some discussion about where Charlie should set up her base, but eventually, everyone agreed that everything should be put in the map room. That way, she could set her modern computers up on one of the desks to the left of the library entrance. Hopefully, she could eventually find a way to hack into the original map table technology. However, she claimed the mix of analog, digital, and magical made everything a nightmare.</p><p>"It uses a mix of fucking punch cards and magic lightbulbs, Dean!" she cried. "I'm not fucking Katherine Johnson! And no, I can't just plug into it! "</p><p>"Wait," Sam stopped her, "Didn't you do exactly that? Before the wicked witch thing?"</p><p>They all stopped and thought about it. </p><p>"Wow," Charlie said, "I have...I have no idea how that happened. That... should not have worked. What the <em>fuck</em>?"</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>In the next couple of days, Dean's list grew more detailed, but not much shorter.</p><p> </p><p></p><blockquote>
  <p>To-Do:<br/><strike>-Assign rooms, get stuff for kids</strike><br/><strike>-get cars figured out</strike></p>
  <p>Bunker Organizing:<br/>- <strike>Assign rooms officially</strike><br/><strike>- Get stuff for kids rooms</strike><br/><strike>- Get Charlie's shit for her setup</strike><br/>- Get bigger table in kitchen? -Definitely</p>
  <p>Shopping<br/><strike>- Need groceries again... also toilet paper</strike><br/><strike>- Kids clothes</strike><br/>- Cas clothes<br/>- forgot eggs</p>
  <p>Transportation Shit:<br/>- Sell bunker cars<br/> - email back museum in cincinatti about model t<br/>- Buy cars legally, but under aliases<br/>- Need 3-4: Cas, Mom, Charlie, and maybe Sam?<br/> - Mom: maybe a Jeep wrangler? somthing tough. Blue?<br/> - Charlie: wants a small cargo van to tech up. Looking at ram promaster city<br/> - Sam: 4dr sedan. Dark grey. Chevy Malibu, probably<br/> - Cas: email back roadclassics782 to finalize </p>
</blockquote><p>He was mostly ignoring it, though, as he sat in the library and played on his phone. Elijah was sitting with him. It was the kids' "lesson" time, so Elijah was working on Dean's laptop. That actually reminded Dean, and he scribbled "Buy laptops for kids" onto the shopping portion of the list. He had been rigorous about clearing his browser history, but he still worried about scaring the kids.</p><p>They had actually found a few excellent online school programs for both Magda and Elijah to catch them up on school. Their mother had half-heartedly attempted lessons with Elijah for the last five years, but she had barely done anything with Magda for the first two years. Since having her pronounced dead, Magda hadn't gotten anything but intense biblical studies. </p><p>"I don't think 'twerking' is a real word," Elijah said, and Dean realized he was looking over his shoulder at the phone. A message popped up on the screen from Mary at the same time.</p><p> </p><p></p><blockquote>
  <p>
    <em> <strong>Mary - That CAN’T be a word</strong> </em>
  </p>
  <p>
    <strong>Dean - Check the dictionary. Devil Emoji</strong>
  </p>
</blockquote><p>He grinned at Elijah, "You have been far, far too sheltered. I'm not sure whether to let you look it up or not. I'd tell you to ask Cas, but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't know what it was. Hey, Sam," He called to his brother, who was coming into the library. "Should I let Elijah know what twerking is, or is he too young?"</p><p>"Oh my god." Sam looked panicked. "I have no clue. When do normal people learn stuff? You taught me stuff way too young."</p><p>"Hey, I taught you stuff way older than I learned it!"</p><p>Sam's panic turned to concern. "What do you mean?"</p><p>Dean was saved from having to respond by losing his game. "Oh, man! I lost."</p><p>"Are you playing games on your phone? So I've been trying to dig up info on the British Men of Letters, keeping an eye out for cases, and you've been goofing off with a game that went out of style five years ago?"</p><p>Dean shrugged. "I don't think Mom's quite ready for Snapchat."</p><p>Sam paused his ranting and looked interested. "You're playing against Mom?" Dean nodded, and Sam gave him a judging look. "The same Mom that didn't know what a cellphone was a month ago? Doesn't exactly seem like a fair fight."</p><p>Dean held up the phone and showed it to Sam. "You were saying? Anyway, most words don't change that much."</p><p>Sam chuckled weakly. "Huh! So how she been lately?"</p><p>Dean turned to look closely at Sam. "You took her out to breakfast this morning." He looked at Sam more seriously. "Is it starting again? Are you saying things you have to say?"</p><p>He watched as confusion slowly cleared from Sam's gaze, and then his brother slowly nodded. </p><p>"Ok," Dean said. "Just do what you have to, and I'll try to keep up with you. So far, you and Mom seem the worst affected, so we'll watch out for that." </p><p>Dean was going to leave Sam with Elijah and find Cas, but the angel came hurrying into the library on his own, phone to his ear. </p><p>"Elijah, why don't you go find Magda and Charlie. It looks like something's going on," Dean said softly. The boy nodded and hurried off. "Hey, Cas, what's going on?"</p><p>"Any news on Lucifer?" Sam said randomly.</p><p>Cas gave him a surprised look. "Actually, yes. Crowley called me. Look at the news." Dean was surprised too but stepped back so Sam could use the laptop.</p><p>"One sec." Sam cleared his throat and tapped away at the keyboard for a moment. "No way. So this is from today."</p><p>He started up a news video as Charlie and Magda, and Elijah came in to crowd around the small screen with the rest of them.</p><p>"<em>We're here in front of Death Siren Records...</em>"</p><p>"Oh, no friggin' way," muttered Dean. </p><p>"<em>....with Vince Vincente.</em>"</p><p>"<em>Yes, it's, uh, it's great having the band back together again. In the studio, feeling pumped. Haven't felt this fired up in ages.</em>" Vince Vincente said on the video</p><p>The reporter asked him, "<em>A lot of people saying that your style of rock could never make a comeback in today's landscape. What do you say to them?</em>"</p><p>"<em>Go to hell.</em>"</p><p>"Tell me that's not Lucifer." Dean groaned.</p><p>"Crowley doesn't know," Cas replied.</p><p>Sam said, "Cas, I-I thought you said Rowena got some licks in. Shouldn't he have burned through his vessel by now?"</p><p>"Yeah, but maybe- what, no, ok- fine!" He put the phone on speaker and laid it on the table.</p><p>"<em>Hello, boys,</em>" came Crowley's voice. "<em>Long time. We team up to save the world, and then bupkis. You don't call, you don't write</em>."</p><p>"Yeah, we don't care," Dean said irritably.</p><p>"Crowley – Lucifer." Sam tried to get them back on track.</p><p>"<em>Lucifer. Think about it. Of all the extinct rock acts, Ladyheart are the most Paleolithic. A major-label sponsored comeback in 2016 for those dinosaurs? It doesn't feel like a wholly natural turn of events, does it?</em>"</p><p>"Maybe Lucifer found a way to heal his vessel," Cas said thoughtfully.</p><p>"Yeah," Dean agreed, "but still...I mean, what the hell?"</p><p>"<em>He's in L.A. I'll see you there.</em>" Crowley finished and hung up.</p><p>"Yeah," Sam said after a moment of silence.</p><p>"God, I hate LA," Dean groaned. </p><p>"So, what exactly is the plan?" Charlie asked. "Do all of us go? We can't just leave Magda and Elijah here alone."</p><p>"Well, we are not taking them into a battle with Lucifer," Cas said bluntly. The teens tried to protest, but all of the adults glared them down. </p><p>"Let me call Mom," Dean said. "I'll see if she's feeling any pulls on her strings right now or if she can handle staying with them."</p><p>"I AM NOT A CHILD," Magda burst out, and they all turned to stare at her. </p><p>Magda had been extremely quiet and withdrawn since her rescue. She agreed to any plan they made and rarely put an opinion out. She tended to disappear from rooms that they were all gathered in, and it would be ages before anyone noticed. Her psychic training had been going terribly because she seemed too frightened to reach out towards anyone at all since learning of the two people she had accidentally killed. She mostly sat in her room and studied quietly. </p><p>"I know I've been struggling," Magda said, tears in her voice, "but I don't need a <em>freaking</em> babysitter. We live in a bunker. There is food. Leave us a phone and a map, and we can take care of ourselves, okay? We'll keep up with our school and just go on as usual." </p><p>"Besides," Elijah said, more calmly, "Mary can't come to the bunker, right? So we would have to go there. And we can't change places again. It's too hard. We'll look after each other. Magda's eighteen, and I'm fifteen."</p><p>Cas nodded. "You're right. It is safe enough in the bunker. I have been working on fixing the wards as well as I can after Amara's damage. There are still some rituals to do, but it should keep out any regular monsters and humans. I would prefer you did not leave unless you run low on food. We will restock before we leave."</p><p>The others nodded as if that were the last word on the subject and went to pack their gear. Elijah trailed after Cas. Dean hesitated on the steps, though. It didn't feel right. They were children still, and shouldn't children be cared for?</p><p>"I'm not comfortable with this." He pleaded with Magda. "You're too volatile still and too hurt. What if something does get in! How are you going to protect each other without control of your powers?"</p><p>"I don't know what else to do!" She said urgently, "Charlie is still too nervous about being away from you guys and would be a nightmare the whole time you were gone. Cas would be freaking out because he wasn't helping. Sam goes where you go. Are you going to sit this one out to stay with us? And Elijah's right; we can't leave the bunker again, not with so many people I could hurt out there and so much chaos to mess us up. There are no other options here, Dean!"</p><p>Dean groaned and sat back down at the table, putting his head in his hands. </p><p>There was a loud banging at the outer door at that moment.</p><p>"We really need a doorbell," Dean growled as he grabbed his sidearm from under the map table. <em>Wasn't this supposed to be a secret bunker?</em> "Magda, get out of sight." He opened the metal inner door. No one was there, which was a plus. Enemies usually broke through the physical outer door and were stopped at the warded inner door. He walked up the short tunnel to the outer door and opened it. </p><p>"What have you done this time, Dean Winchester," scolded Missouri Moseley.</p><p> </p><p>--- </p><p> </p><p>Honestly, that was kind of a shock to Dean. He just stood there, staring at the little psychic woman until she smacked his shoulder.</p><p>"What kind of manners is that, boy?" she said. "Invite me into your home."</p><p>"Um, is it really you? Missouri? I mean, it's been a... a while. And it's kind of a weird time."</p><p>"Of course, it's me." She shoved past Dean and talked while she walked. "And I'm here because of your 'weird time.' I got a vision about two weeks ago. Sorry, it's taken me a while to settle things up in Lawrence so I could get here."</p><p>She stood at the balcony and looked over the main rooms of the bunker. "Well, it's strange, but I'm glad you boys finally found a home." She looked Dean firmly in the eye now. "Now, don't you go thinking I'm here to clean up after you? I'm no one's maid, is that clear?"</p><p>Dean stepped back with his hands up in surrender. "Yes, ma'am, I promise, that was not at all what I was thinking!"</p><p>"I know it wasn't, sugar, but I just needed to make sure you didn't start to think it. Now, where is she." Missouri marched down the stairs. "Oh, baby." She headed straight for where Magda had tucked herself in one of the Library alcoves. Dean just trailed along behind. </p><p>Missouri pulled Magda out of hiding and wrapped her up in a tight hug. Magda was stiff for a moment and then just melted. "Oh, honey," Missouri murmured, "you're in a dark place there. We're gonna pull you right out, okay?" </p><p>Dean backed off as soon as Magda started crying. He made sure he'd actually closed the front doors and then went to find Cas and Sam. He pulled them into the kitchen.</p><p>"Uh, so... Missouri's here." Dean rubbed the bridge of his nose.</p><p>"What?" Sam was stunned. </p><p>"The psychic from your hometown?" Cas clarified. "What is she doing here?"</p><p>"I have no clue. She said she had a vision and then went to hug Magda, so maybe she's here to help her?" Dean shrugged. "Why does anything happen? Lucifer's back, we have to go to LA, Magda's still struggling with her powers, Mom can't come in the bunker, Sam's strings are still being pulled by something, we don't know who brought Charlie back or what ulterior motives they might have, and now Missouri shows up out of nowhere. I need to go do possession tests and shit on her, and I have such a bad headache." </p><p>Dean slumped against the wall, tired from his rant. Cas reached over and touched Dean's temple gently. The headache eased, and Dean smiled at the angel gratefully. "Thanks, Cas."</p><p>"You and I will go do the tests on Missouri," Cas decided. Dean really appreciated it when he took the lead and laid out a battle plan. "Sam will load the car. We will deal with Lucifer when we get to Los Angeles." He led the way up the steps, and Dean followed easily. </p><p>They had a possession test set up in the map room. A jug of holy water to check for demons, a silver knife to check for shapeshifters. It had been a knife, at least. Charlie had swapped it for a silver coin. She claimed it hurt shifters just as much, and she didn't need extra scars, thank you very much. There were other tools there as well, but those were the most pressing tests. Angels were harder to spot, unfortunately.</p><p>Missouri agreed easily to the test, took a drink of the water, and held the coin with no problems. "I can tell you that the first time we met, you tried to put your feet on my coffee table," she told Dean as proof that she was herself. </p><p>"Ok," he agreed, "it's you. I still don't understand. Why are you here?"</p><p>Missouri settled into one of the chairs. "I've been having strange visions for about a month now. Usually, my skills are clairsentience and some telepathy, though I have had a few precognitive visions before." She looked to Magda, who seemed confused. "My abilities are focused on reading energies surrounding an object or a place, but I can pick up some surface thoughts from other people, and occasionally I see the future. Psychics are not all the same. Your abilities seem focused on telepathy and telekinesis, reading thoughts, and moving objects with your mind. I also understand you can project your thoughts, too, but we will discuss that more later.</p><p>"Anyway, visions tend to be disjointed images, flashes of emotions, just a big jumbled up mess that I have to sort through to get clues out of. These have been very different, though. More like... visits, I'd say."</p><p>Dean sat down next to her. "Who, Missouri? Who's been visiting you?"</p><p>"I'm getting there, sugar. Let me tell my story." Missouri said. "The first time she came to visit me, she said her sister hadn't liked you boys, and she wanted a second opinion before she did something big. I told her I hadn't seen you in person in a long time but that you were bright, pure souls. I told her of your auras and your childhood and your father. She nodded and left.</p><p>"The second time she came, she stayed longer. She told me a little of herself and how she had changed things for you. I was pleased. Then the third time she came, she told me about Magda. She didn't even have to say it. I told her I was going to be packing up right away. She let me know where to find you and when I needed to be here. So I settled things in Lawrence, and now I'm here. I'll stay as long as you want me to."</p><p>"But who was she?" Dean was about to explode from the slow storytelling.</p><p>"Oh, she said her name was Clotho, one of the Fates," Missouri said.</p><p>"Wait, is that the one..."</p><p>"No, that was Atropos, her sister," Cas answered before Dean could finish asking. "And we do absolutely want to know what she knows about all of what's going on with Sam, but we're supposed to meet a demon to deal with Lucifer in Los Angeles. I need to find Elijah." He said and swept out of the room</p><p>Missouri blinked at him. "You know, I honestly cannot tell if he is joking. That has never happened to me before."</p><p>"He's almost never joking," Dean assured her. "And when he is, he usually ruins it by immediately telling you that he just made a joke. We really do need to get moving, though. So this is Magda. Elijah is her younger brother. He's around here somewhere. He's fifteen, and Magda can take care of him if he needs anything," he met her eyes, and they nodded at each other. "Sam and Charlie and Cas and I are all going out. We don't have an extra car to leave you."</p><p>"I brought my car, honey, don't worry about that," Missouri assured him.</p><p>"Oh, good. I'll leave you a credit card then, and you can help them get groceries if they need it?" Dean asked. Missouri nodded.</p><p>Cas came back with his duffel and teenager. "Elijah, this is Missouri. She's a friend of Sam and Dean's. She's a psychic and is going to be staying with you and training Magda. She's a friend, not a housekeeper, so you keep up with your chores." He waited for Elijah's steady nod. "Study well, and keep to your schedule. I will text often and call you every evening."</p><p>Sam and Charlie came in with packed bags as well. Sam had Dean's bag packed, too. There was nothing else they needed to do. It was time to go. </p><p>"Now you give each other hugs, you fools," Missouri complained from her seat. "And don't forget to hug me, too."</p><p>Elijah latched himself onto an emotional Cas. Dean pulled Magda into his arms, and she wrapped hers tightly around his waist. Sam lifted Missouri out of her chair to introduce her to Charlie and give her a massive squeeze. Eventually, they all swapped around and got a full set of hugs. </p><p>Sam was starting to get twitchy, and Dean realized they really needed to get going. So they called out goodbyes, and he gently pulled Cas away from a group hug with Elijah and Magda. The poor angel was getting extremely attached to these kids. </p><p>"Please be safe," Magda called as they headed for the stairs. Dean could only nod. He didn't have any assurances to give. They were going up against Lucifer with no weapons or plan. </p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>It was not a short drive.</p><p>20 hours drive time, not including stops. </p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>"Wait, so some British guy just came up to talk to you at Waffle House?" Dean asked.</p><p>Mary sighed at the other end of the phone. "<em>Yes, apparently, he's with the British Men of Letters. I guess that Lady Bevell was rogue or something? He wants to talk to you, but I guess every time he goes you the bunker, you're out, or as he put it, there's a woman there now who makes him want to 'confess all his sins and run home to mum.'</em>"</p><p>"Did he hurt you? Did you get away?" Sam asked urgently</p><p>"<em>I'm still at the Waffle House. He wants to talk to you guys. Like, preferably now</em>."</p><p>"I'm willing to talk to him, but not if you're still in his reach. You can give him my number, but he can't call until you're home safe."</p><p>"<em>Dean</em>," Mary sighed at his dramatics, "<em>I'm fine. I'm putting him on speaker.</em>"</p><p>"Wait, Mom..."</p><p>"<em>Hello, is this Sam and Dean Winchester?</em>" came a fancy British accent. "<em>My name is Mick Davies.</em>"</p><p>"This is Dean. Are you with the dickbags who kidnapped and tortured my brother? What do you even want from us? The fancy bitch said you wanted names of hunters or something?"</p><p>"<em>What you were told is basically true. We were keen on knowing about the two of you, seeing as you seem to be partially carrying on the Men of Letters' work here now that the American chapter is defunct.</em>."</p><p>"So you sic your attack dog on us to what, say hi?" Dean exclaimed. "Are you fucking kidding?"</p><p>The voice on the other end sighed. "<em>Well, part of our group suspect some kind of malfeasance amongst you American Hunters. No argument – Lady Bevell went too far. I deeply apologize.</em>"</p><p>"Well, we've already taken care of that little problem for you, so what do you want from us now?" Dean asked harshly.</p><p>"<em>I'm here to extend an olive branch,</em>" Mick said politely. "<em>We want to work with you</em>."</p><p>"Let me ask you a question, uh, Mick, is it?" Sam asked. "Why would we believe any of this?"</p><p>"<em>Lads...if I wasn't sincere, if I meant you harm, there are a dozen ways I could've taken dear Mary prisoner instead of being unarmed. I left the bunker alone instead of breaking in through escape routes I know about and disturbing the lovely woman staying in there.</em>"</p><p>"That sounds sort of threatening to me," Charlie muttered from the backseat.</p><p>"<em>My number is on the card I'm giving to Mary,</em>" Mick said. "<em>Take your time, cool down, and just think it over. And what have you got to lose, except your worst nightmares?</em>"</p><p>"I'm pretty sure that line didn't work on the fucking Indians!" Charlie yelled before the line disconnected.</p><p>Cas frowned at her. "That's very inappropriate. You aren't supposed to call them that. The preferred term is Native American."</p><p>"No! I meant Indians from India!" She huffed, then paused. "Though, technically, it's true in both cases. Britain basically tried to colonize the whole world, and the rest of Europe bartered off the other bits. But regardless, yes, we are not letting them fucking colonize us. We may be a mess, but we are our own Goddamn mess."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Cas alternated between driving too fast and too slow. He would lose himself on the open highway, and the needle would creep up until he started to smile. Dean hated having to touch his arm and bring him back down before they got a speeding ticket. He knew it was the closest to flying the angel got these days. </p><p>But when there were cars around, or he had to make turns, Cas was a model driver and took things very slow. He always seemed aware that there were rather breakable humans riding in the car with him.</p><p>He also was mercilessly abusing his driver picks the music privileges to listen to iHeartRadio.</p><p>Dean tried to glare at him, but he was too comfortable. He was sitting in the passenger seat, and the sun had just sunk below the horizon, leaving the sky glorious but no longer blinding as they drove west. Utah was picturesque, and Sam and Charlie were quietly reading on their phones in the backseat. </p><p>He looked over at Cas, who was driving fast again, flying into the brilliant gold sky. It was a perfect moment.</p><p>---</p><p>"Charlie gave you WHAT for homework?" Dean screeched like a man. The teens were on Cas's phone on a video, and Dean had been watching over Cas's shoulder when he'd noticed what book Magda was reading.</p><p>"<em>The Supernatural books,</em>" Elijah repeated. "<em>She said we needed to know our family history. It's weird. You guys talk too much. I just want to read about the monster stuff</em>."</p><p>"CHARLIE!" he yelled.</p><p>"Oh my god, I am right next to you, stop screaming in my ear. This is not that big of a car. Anyway, I blacked out the nudie bits with a marker so stop freaking out."</p><p>"This is a nightmare." Dean moaned.</p><p>"<em>I like them</em>," Magda said, making it worse. "<em>I'm just on book one, though. I've been busy with Missouri. We've moved my training up to the warehouse above the bunker.</em>"</p><p>"Why?" Cas said, picking up on that. "What happened?"</p><p>"<em>I may have... exploded a few things</em>." Magda hugged herself, and Dean bit back the scolding he was about to give.</p><p>"Okay," Cas nodded. "I explode things sometimes, too."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Charlie attempted exactly one punch buggy on the angel.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>"All right," Dean said, desperately trying to stay awake. It was two in the morning. "450 miles to L.A. Land of gridlock, Botox, overtaxing, underachieving, the smell of sweaty desperation. I mean, you can't breathe. The beaches are toxic. You got dudes in skinny jeans wearing sunglasses inside." He sighed, "image-obsessed narcissists. I do like the yoga pants, though." He chuckled to himself. "When was the last time we were in L.A.? About 10 years ago, doing a vengeful spirit? Man, that seems like forever ago. Doesn't it?" No one was responding. He looked over at Sam in the passenger seat. "Hey." He realized his brother was wearing earbuds and hit him on the arm. "Tryin' to talk to you here."</p><p>Sam sighed, "What?"</p><p>"You..." Dean shrugged. "What are you listenin' to?"</p><p>"Uh, podcast. Why?"</p><p>"All right, well… I need something to keep me awake, so crank it up."</p><p>"I mean, it's a history podcast." Sam cleared his throat.</p><p>Dean sighed. "Well, I like history, you know? Gladiators and outlaws, pirates. Hell, we're driving a piece of history right here." He gestured at the Impala. </p><p>Charlie groaned. "That was terrible, Dean." </p><p>"I like history podcasts, too, Sam." Cas chimed in. Oh, now they wanted to talk. "I listen to many podcasts when I don't have work to do when you all sleep. I find them soothing. Which one are you listening to?"</p><p>"N-not that kind of history." Sam stuttered. "This is a, uh… " he cleared his throat again, "it's a podcast on the history of the Protestant Reformation. A multipart exploration of each of Martin Luther's 95 theses."</p><p>"That sounds very intriguing," Cas said over Charlie and Dean's groans. "I have given a lot of thought to that..."</p><p>"Yeah, that's what I thought." Sam cleared his throat a third time, and Dean reached over and unplugged the headphone jack from his brother's phone.</p><p>Rock music and Vince Vincente's voice poured out from the phone speakers.</p><p>"Ohh, Sam," Dean complained.</p><p>Sam tugged out his earbuds and tossed them aside. "Dude."</p><p>"Hair rock? Really?" Dean insisted. Charlie fished the phone from the front seat to look at the song stats.</p><p>"Hey!" Sam protested. "And it's not hair –"</p><p>"Come on," Dean said.</p><p>Sam stuck to his guns. "It's not hair rock, Dean. It's hard rock. It's legitimate hard rock."</p><p>Dean chuckled. "Wow."</p><p>"Don't judge a book by its cover," Sam argued.</p><p>"What cover?" Cas asked.</p><p>"Yeah, or a dude by his, uh, rainbow wig and leopard prints." Dean laughed.</p><p>"What?" Cas asked again.</p><p>"Rainbow wig? What?" Sam huffed. "You know what? I'm done apologizing. Lucifer possessed Vince Vincente. This is Vince Vincente's music, so listening to it is research."</p><p>"Excuse me," said Cas sternly.</p><p>"No. No." Dean tried to object, but Sam was grabbing the phone back from Charlie.</p><p>"As a matter of fact…" Sam said and raised the volume. "Study up, Dean."</p><p>Dean yelled over the music, "No, no. No. I don't wanna listen to it."</p><p>"You like it," Sam said.</p><p>"No. No. No, no. No. Turn it off," Dean cried.</p><p>"It'll grow on ya," Sam said smugly.</p><p>"I WILL TURN THIS FUCKING CAR OFF THE ROAD IF SOMEONE DOESN'T ANSWER ME," Cas thundered. Everyone froze. </p><p>Sam turned the music down a bit and turned to him, "What was the question, Cas? Sorry."</p><p>"I need to know if my brother Lucifer, who recently possessed me for half a year, does or does not currently wear a rainbow wig and fucking leopard prints," Cas said with absolute sincerity.</p><p>Charlie dissolved into giggles. Sam snorted and put his earbuds back in.</p><p>"Um," Dean said, "I was sort of exaggerating. I don't know if Vince Vincente actually wore that specifically, and even if he did, it was only back in the eighties when people still wore stuff like that. Sorry, buddy. I mean, if it helps, he still looks incredibly stupid wearing an ancient rock star at all?"</p><p>Cas sighed. "A little."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>They started the journey as normal adult people, sitting in their own seats, with their own devices in their own hands.</p><p>They reached LA a full twenty-six hours after leaving Kansas because drive times are never anywhere close to actual times, especially when you add in three working bladders and stomachs. Dean was driving again because, as much as he hated city traffic, he also didn't really trust anyone else to get them through it. Cas was sitting next to him, glaring and holding out Dean's coffee every two seconds because he was convinced Dean would fall asleep at the wheel at any moment. He also had Dean's phone giving him GPS directions.</p><p>Charlie was squished into a corner of the backseat. She and Sam had tried the "lean on each other" method of sleeping that only worked with someone who wasn't three times your size. Sam was stretched across the backseat, snoring loudly. Charlie had decided her best method to get more room was to put her legs up over the front seat into Cas's space. Cas just ignored her and made Dean drink Sam's coffee, too.</p><p>They finally made it to the Bellaqua Hotel, where they had agreed to meet Crowley. Dean had that body confusion of <em>sit down because of tiredness or stand because legs are cramped?</em> And ended up just sanding while Sam and Charlie and Cas sat in the lobby's plush chairs. Dean noticed Sam getting water from a dispenser that had floating cucumbers and gave him a look.</p><p>"What?" Sam asked. "It's good."</p><p>"It's vegetable water." Dean grouched. He flopped onto the couch next to Cas. "Hey. We should have switched up your duds there. Bit stiff for this town." Cas gave him a look.</p><p>"He could be an agent or something." Sam defended.</p><p>Dean grumbled, "Yeah, maybe a third-tier agent."</p><p>Cas glared at him. "At least I don't look like a lumberjack." Dean met his glare with startled surprise at the comeback. After a moment, the glare softened, and Cas said softly, "I know you are anxious right now, but please stop taking it out on me."</p><p>"Okay, enough." Sam interrupted. "Guys, where's Crowley?</p><p>"He said he'd meet us here," Cas said. "Frankly, I appreciate the break. It's been weeks, and he's been right there, just texting and texting and texting. It's relentless."</p><p>"Don't listen to him." Crowley sighed dramatically from behind Cas and Dean's couch. "Feathers and I are all but inseparable now."</p><p>"You find anything?" Sam asked.</p><p>"Yes." Crowley was matter-of-fact. "Vince Vincente is riding with the Devil."</p><p>Cas nodded. "Okay, so what now?"</p><p>Crowley showed them a keycard. "I suggest we go check out his room. Vince is scheduled to be in the studio all day, so we're covered."</p><p>"How'd you get the card?" Dean asked. He pulled at Charlie, who had fallen asleep in her chair, and pulled her along with them.</p><p>"This is L.A. I know a lot of people." Crowley gave a friendly wave to the receptionist, who waved back, and they headed upstairs. </p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>The room was a mess.</p><p>"Well, looks like there was some kind of a fight," Cas said obliviously.</p><p>Dean chuckled, "Mm. Yeah." He picked up a pair of bright pink, lacy panties, "Some kind." He dropped them into Cas's hands like they were evidence, mostly curious about what he would do with them.</p><p>"Look at this," Sam said. "Rock star biographies. Like, all of them, from Aerosmith to ZZ Top. It's like he's studying how to become famous."</p><p>Cas just dropped them on the floor. Interesting. Charlie picked them up and slingshot them at Dean. He blushed and shoved them to the floor. Then he checked out a pizza box, but it was disappointingly empty.</p><p>"Well, so what, Lucifer's a dork?" He commented, picking up a guitar lying on the couch. This room was wreaking havoc on his concentration. He just had to <em>touch</em> everything.</p><p>Sam muttered. "That's good to know." As if he weren't unfortunately and intimately familiar with every aspect of Lucifer already.</p><p>"Look at this- " Cas brought a folder over to Crowley to look at and read aloud, "'The seeds of a ripe dragon fruit drizzled with exactly 1 ounce of Acacia honey, prepared in a ceramic bowl – no plastic.' What is this spell?"</p><p>"It's breakfast. It's Vince's rider." Crowley pointed out. "I've seen worse."</p><p>"I don't get it." Sam protested. "Lucifer could be taking over Heaven and Hell right now, and instead, he's trying to act out some rock god fantasy?"</p><p>"Yeah. Who wouldn't?" Dean grinned and struck a chord on the guitar.</p><p>Cas came out of the bathroom. "I found something," he said, holding it up.</p><p>"What is that?" Sam asked.</p><p>Cas was practical. "It appears to be a human tooth pulled out by the root."</p><p>"Ew." Charlie wrinkled her nose in disgust.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Crowley got a call from one of his mysterious LA people letting him know that something had happened at the Death Siren studio. Someone had gotten hurt and been taken to the hospital. The team decided to skip trying to get into the studio and go straight to the hospital.</p><p>From there, their fake FBI badges got them through to a doctor. Charlie hung out in the waiting room with the wifi so she could try to get anything on the studio's incident report.</p><p>"Mrs. Greenfield has lost a lot of blood, and there'll be no fixing those scars, but she's stable." The doctor told them.</p><p>"And she cut <em>herself</em>?" Cas asked. He seemed shaken. Dean worried that the angel was guilt spiraling again.</p><p>The doctor nodded. "She carved his name into her chest. 'Vince Vincente.' Didn't skip a letter. And she cut deep."</p><p>Dean nodded. "Thanks, Doctor." He waited for the man to leave and then turned to the rest of the group. "Well, again, what the hell?"</p><p>"I'll go talk to her," Crowley said casually.</p><p>"No. No, no, no, you won't." Sam said, holding a hand up in front of the demon.</p><p>Dean didn't really want Cas talking to her either and seeing her wounds. "Cas, stay here. Keep an eye on him." He pointed at Crowley.</p><p>As he headed down the hall, he could hear Crowley sing-song, "Well...together again."</p><p>Cas deadpanned, "Yay," brought a smirk back to Dean's face.</p><p>Castiel: Yay.</p><p>The tiny moment of relief that Cas seemed okay disappeared when he saw the girl. Roseleen Greenfield didn't want to talk about what happened.</p><p>Dean sighed. "We wanna understand what happened, but for us to do that, we need you to talk."</p><p>Sam's tone was gentle. "Roseleen, did Vince force you to do this?"</p><p>"No." She argued. "Vince didn't. He wouldn't have to. I wanted to, to show him, to make him happy."</p><p>Dean's calm had vanished already. "You ever stop and wonder what kind of sicko gets happy off of watching somebody melon ball their own flesh?"</p><p>"Don't talk about Vince like that. He had a reason, a good reason." she seemed offended but then confused. "He must have. I'm sure he can explain everything. If I could just see him – Ah!" She tried to stand from the bed, but the pain stopped her. I need to get to the show. Please! Please!"</p><p>She stopped responding to them, and they left, telling a nurse that she was agitated. Back in the hallway with Crowley and Cas, Sam filled them in on the show she had mentioned.</p><p>"So the show is tonight?" Cas asked.</p><p>Sam nodded. "That's what she said."</p><p>"Can Lucifer even sing," Cas asked, "or play an instrument?"</p><p>Dean's eyebrows went up. That was actually a very interesting question. "I doubt they offer Intro to Guitar in the cage."</p><p>"Like it matters," Crowley said. "What Lucifer made that woman do has got nothing to do with music. It's about devotion."</p><p>"Come again?" Dean sighed.</p><p>"You little people wouldn't understand," Crowley both mocked and informed, "but I've been a king. Having people look at you like you're everything, knowing that once they buy in, you can make them do anything, it's intoxicating."</p><p>Dean just felt tired. "Well, that's super creepy." He said.</p><p>Castiel asked, "Okay, so this concert, all these people, what is – what is Lucifer planning to do?</p><p>"Nothing good," Sam said.</p><p>Cas turned to Crowley. "Is Rowena –</p><p>Crowley interrupted. "Dear Mother says that once we catch Lucifer, she'll show, no sooner."</p><p>Dean closed his eyes. "Well, without Rowena, we're outgunned."</p><p>"With her, we're outgunned." Crowley pointed out.</p><p>"It doesn't matter, guys," Sam said encouragingly. "This is our shot. We just gotta find out where he's playing tonight."</p><p>"All right, let's get to work," Dean said.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>None of them figured out where he was playing.</p><p>They all ended up sitting around the Bellaqua Hotel lobby, waiting for Charlie to break through someone's email or other.</p><p>"And you said you put the fear in Russell." Dean mocked.</p><p>"I thought I had," Crowley grumbled. "These yoga types. Just when you think you've harshed their mellow..."</p><p>"Yeah, well, I've been looking everywhere online, and, uh… no one's linked the venue yet." He glared at Dean. "Seriously?"</p><p>"What?" Dean asked him straightfaced over a cup of cucumber water he had just gotten out of the dispenser. It actually did taste pretty good.</p><p>"Dude," Sam argued.</p><p>"Shut up." Dean finished the argument in the most mature way.</p><p>"Cas," Sam said, which didn't fit in with the argument at all until Dean realized he was greeting the angel coming in the door. </p><p>Cas didn't look very happy, but Dean asked anyway. "Anything?"</p><p>"No." Cas glared at everyone.</p><p>Dean laughed hollowly. "So we couldn't flip a single member of Vince's team. Even with the threat of mass murder, these SoCal douchebags won't do the right thing." He rubbed his hand over his eyes.</p><p>"Welcome to Los Angeles," Crowley said.</p><p>"So, what happens now?" Cas asked.</p><p>"Now, you wait patiently for just a few more minutes, perhaps get me a caffeinated beverage. Then you all tell me I am your queen and we go to a concert," Charlie said happily. "I think I've found the right person; I just need to get access to their accounts."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Charlie figured it out one minute after Vincente's bandmate texted Cas the address. She was quite pissed. "I had it! I was going to be the queen here." She muttered.</p><p>"Sorry, Charlie. I'm the Queen today." Cas said proudly. Dean had given him shotgun as a prize for getting someone to flip on Vincente. Thankfully Crowley had opted to meet them there instead of shoving himself into the car with them. </p><p>They geared up in a parking garage near Club Meteor. </p><p>Cas was trying to call his contact back. "Ugh. Tommy's still not answering."</p><p>"Well, he got us here," Dean said. "That's what matters."</p><p>Crowley looked at the handcuffs Dean was holding. "Enochian handcuffs. That's your move?"</p><p>"They held me," Cas told him sharply.</p><p>"You're not him," Crowley retorted.</p><p>"We have no sure bets here, okay?" Dean said, "Anything that we use is gonna be like popping BBs."</p><p>"Oh, great pep talk. Go, team." Crowley muttered sarcastically.</p><p>Sam looked at them all concerned. "Guys," he said, "we're here to do more than just take a shot at Lucifer."</p><p>Crowley seemed genuinely confused. "We are?"</p><p>"Yes," Sam said. "We need to save the people inside, too."</p><p>"I'll take Lucifer," Cas announced. "He's my responsibility."</p><p>"I knew you were going to fucking say that," Dean groaned. </p><p>"No, he's not," Sam argued. "He's all of our responsibility."</p><p>"Well, the only way you'll clear that crowd without drawing fire is if he's otherwise engaged," Cas said matter-of-factly.</p><p>Dean glared at him. "Engaged in what, Cas? Killing you?"</p><p>"Cas, you'll last...three minutes tops," Sam argued.</p><p>Cas nodded. "Then I'll buy you three minutes."</p><p>Crowley sighed. "Make it four." He shrugged. "What? I help."</p><p>"Fuck you, Cas. You are not dying and leaving me with those kids."</p><p>"Say what now?" Crowley's head swiveled between Dean and Cas. "Since when do you two have kids?"</p><p>"Technically, only Cas has kids," Sam said, walking a little ways away from the car, apparently waiting for Cas and Dean to finish their argument. Charlie joined him.</p><p>"But yeah, I'm pretty sure if Cas died, Dean would be the next one in line to take them," Charlie said.</p><p>"It's my fault Lucifer is out here to hurt people in the first place!" Cas yelled. His eyes searched Dean's, and Dean wondered if he was looking for someone to accuse him.</p><p>"Well, Cas, you could argue it's my fault for breaking the first seal or Sam's for breaking the last! You could argue it's my fault for taking the Mark of Cain or Sam's for breaking it." Dean argued back. "We've all fucked shit up, okay? We just have to work on saving whoever we can today!"</p><p>"But I <em>let</em> him out," Cas said softly. Dean realized the others had actually moved out of earshot. "He was my brother. I knew- I <em>knew</em> how bad he was, and I let him take me because it was the only way at that moment to save <em>you</em>. And I would do it again, so I'm not even sorry. I just carry all the weight of everyone he hurts."</p><p>"I've done it too," Dean said softly. He put his hands on Cas's shoulders. "That's what family is for people like us. It's the people we love so much we break the rules for, and we put our convictions and our ideals aside and do what we have to do to save them. And I know that the guilt is eating you alive right now, but I need you to hold it together for me. For Magda and Elijah. And everybody. We need you to come back home. </p><p>"So you can't give up after three minutes or four. You will fight smart, like the general you are, and you are going to fight to distract, not to hurt him, or to get yourself killed. I'll pray for you as soon as we get people out, and then you're going to disengage.</p><p>"Do you hear me, Cas?" Dean shook him just a bit and waited for Cas to nod. "You have to survive this one, okay?"</p><p>Cas swallowed, staring deep into Dean's eyes. "Yes. I'm fighting for... our family." He said the words carefully and nodded as though they felt right. He put a hand over Dean's where it lay on his shoulder and squeezed. "I'll be careful."</p><p>He let go and walked away. Crowley stared at Dean in shock and then hurried to catch up to the angel.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>They all survived.</p><p>"How you feelin'?" Dean asked Cas softly as they stood by the Impala.</p><p>"I'm not dead," Cas said and smiled.</p><p>"Oh, it was a grand success," Crowley said grumpily. He was the most visibly injured of them. Cas took and tried to heal him, but the demon waved him off.</p><p>"Well, we didn't catch Lucifer," Dean summed up. "but we did save the crowd, so I'm gonna call that a win."</p><p>"I wouldn't. Vince Vincente is dead." Sam said.</p><p>"Seriously?" Charlie asked him.</p><p>Dean agreed with the redhead. "We never even hoped to save him. And, yes, I know, the third album- "</p><p>"No," Sam said, trying to explain, "he was still a person, and he meant something to a lot of people. And Lucifer just took all that and just twisted all that up and snuffed it out. Lucifer was bad enough when he had a plan, a motive. Now he's just having fun. I mean, how many people died tonight? Them, this, it's all on us. We let him out. We're not winning. We're just losing slow. And you heard what he said."</p><p>"Onwards and upwards." Crowley intoned. "He's gone big."</p><p>"And he'll go bigger," Cas said ominously.</p><p>Dean shrugged, "And we will stop him. We will. It's what we do, man. Now you," he pointed at Crowley, "need to go clean up Hell, so demons stop terrorizing innocent hunters funerals, got it?"</p><p>Crowley looked confused, "I'm not exactly King at the moment."</p><p>Dean waved that off. "Then campaign like every other son of a bitch. You have charisma coming out of your eyeballs. Just take the damn throne and convince them you deserve it. The rest of us are going home. Though you," this time he pointed at Cas, "need to call your kids and tell them you're alive."</p><p>Crowley waved them off, still looking confused but also flattered.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Turns out, second to Charlie, Missouri's voice is the easiest for me to hear in my head because of way too many hours of Doc McStuffins.</p><p>Also, my headcanon actress for Clotho is Athena Karkanis.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. LOTUS (rise up lotus, rise/ this is the beginning)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>There is some downtime in the bunker as everyone waits for Lucifer's next move. Then a bloody meeting with a priest, a birthday present, and Castiel punches someone, all before the big fight!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm getting quite the ensemble cast now. It's a little hard to keep everyone in mind. But that probably won't stop me from adding in characters. I love them all too much, and I'm not fridging them or shoving them into a corner to wait for the main characters. They show up whenever they damn well please.</p><p>Lucifer sucks and LOTUS was way too cool a title to give to him, so the song reference is for Kelly.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There were only a few days of peace before news of another potential Lucifer vessel hit. The bunker was such a different place than it had been just a few months before. When Dean and Sam were alone, searching hopelessly for clues to defeat Amara and save Cas.</p><p>Now, there was often music playing from the war room where Charlie had set up her workstation. Elijah tended to study in the library and often had excited discussions with Charlie about shows or intense debates with Sam on the minutia of whatever he was learning.</p><p>Magda's telekinesis work with Missouri in the warehouse came with explosions and crashes that would echo through the bunker. Her practice inside the bunker usually came with shouts of outrage from people realizing she was playing with their minds again. It was never malicious. They all knew she needed to practice and had given her permission as long as she was gentle and didn't pry into their secrets. The pranks were funny, though.</p><p>Cas didn't stay still. He moved between checking on each of the kids and helping in the kitchen. Dean had banned him from the garage. He still seemed agitated and worried, but no one could brood in a home that included Charlie and Missouri.</p><p>Dean was working non-stop. He had gotten a couple of the old cars sold and had leads on some of the motorcycles. His greatest achievement was selling the Model T to a private collector and getting a very fancy check that he'd used to set up a bank account for the whole family.</p><p>He had Elijah working on building a new kitchen table that could seat everyone easily. It was using the old kitchen table's metal pieces, and he'd found similar fixings to extend the table. When finished, it would have eight swinging stools, four on each side.</p><p>Dean's special project had arrived the day they had gone to LA, and that was why Cas was not allowed to come into the garage. Dean wished he could slow down and savor the work, but there was this feeling that time was running out, and he needed to get things into order for his family.</p><p>He was also experiencing new things, like learning that cooking with Mary was fun in a different way than cooking with Missouri, which was also different from cooking with Cas. Missouri tended to boss and smacked his fingers if he tried to take a tase of anything, and she taught him songs to time her cooking. With Mary, they both indulged themselves in snacking and adding in the meat and cheese. Mary had excellent knife skills, but her taste palate didn't stray far beyond 'cheese,' so Dean handled seasonings. Those cooking adventures had to happen in her apartment because she still couldn't come to the bunker. With Cas, cooking was precise measurements, messy workspaces, and leaning over each other to check the flavors. Subtle jokes, hip checks, and Dean's head thrown back in laughter.</p><p>They went out often to meet up with Mary. Sometimes it was just breakfast with one or other of the brothers. Sometimes they had picnics in the park with everyone so Elijah could run and Magda could lie in the grass and feel the sun.</p><p>Mary and Magda had a similar quietness about them and seemed drawn to each other. They would sit in silence for ages, just putting their faces up to the light and sharing the peace. Elijah liked how Mary could throw a football as far as he could, and he happily submitted to her hair-tussling.</p><p>In general, life had become a chaotic whirl of voices, giggles, music, running steps, sudden hugs, and friendly swats. Crowded dinners around card tables Dean had set up in the kitchen until he finished the one he was building. Arguments about what room they should set up as a tv room because they couldn't keep watching movies on laptops.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Late one evening, Dean mentioned the difference as he sat with Sam and Mary on her apartment's balcony. "It's great but hard to get used to," he finished.</p><p>"It's like living in a college dorm again," Sam laughed and took a drink of his beer. "We didn't exactly have anything like that when we were kids!"</p><p>"I did. For a bit," Dean said quietly. "At Sonny's."</p><p>"What do you mean?" Mary asked.</p><p>The brothers looked at each other. They had tried to show their childhood through rose-tinted glasses for Mary. Neither brother wanted to say anything less than flattering about John Winchester.</p><p>"It was just a place I stayed for a while," Dean tried.</p><p>Mary looked at him closely. "I know you boys are leaving things out of your stories." She sighed, "Just tell me. The whole truth."</p><p>Dean couldn't. He opened his mouth, but a lifetime of smoothing things between John and others made it impossible for him to make things messy.</p><p>Sam took over instead. "Dean and I didn't exactly have the same childhood. We tell you about things more from how it was for me." Mary looked confused. "We just don't want you to be mad at Dad. We've had time to deal with stuff and forgive him, but he's been dead for a long time now, and it seems cruel to drag stuff up that happened ages ago."</p><p>Mary nodded slowly. "So something happened between Dean and John? I don't quite understand. Did they fight?"</p><p>Sam laughed harshly. "Honestly, usually it was me who fought with Dad. I'm not sure Dean fought back much at all. Um, like, let's just start with Sonny's. That happened when you were, what... sixteen?" Dean nodded, and Sam continued, "he got arrested." Mary sucked in a breath, but Sam held up a hand. "He got arrested for stealing food."</p><p>"Because I'd lost our food money in a fucking card game," Dean muttered.</p><p>"Where was John?" Mary asked though she could have guessed, Dean was sure.</p><p>"On a hunt." The brothers said simultaneously, with a shrug.</p><p>"Anyway, so they sent Dean to a boy's home," Sam went on, "and Dad knew where he was, but he just left him there for two months to teach him a lesson about losing his food money. Then, once Dean was settled in there and happy, Dad picked me up from Bobby's where he'd left me, got Dean, and we moved to the next hunt."</p><p>It was probably a good story to start with. It was cold and showed John's priorities, but there was no screaming or pain. Dean sighed and put his face in his hands.</p><p>"I don't understand," Mary said. "John?"</p><p>"Mom, he was a hunter," Dean said. "It changes everybody. He was just focused on hunting the monsters and avenging you, not-"</p><p>"<em> Avenging me </em> ?" repeated Mary in a rough voice. "That was more important than <em> raising my children </em>?" She stared into space, a few tears falling down her face. "I... I need a little bit. I want to know more, do you understand? But I need to process." They nodded, starting to learn that Mary couldn't talk through her feelings easily. She pulled each of them into a tight hug, her fingers clutching at their necks and shoulders as if she could hold them together years after the wounds had happened.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Crowley got news of a possible Lucifer victim, so Cas and Sam went to check it out. Dean had a meeting with a contact to sell another one of the cars, so he let them go on their own since it was just a morgue visit.</p><p>They came back with the news that it was a used-up vessel, some wealthy titan of industry or something. It seemed their theory on Lucifer working his way up the food chain was right.</p><p>The tension in the bunker increased. Dean, Cas, and Sam still had no plan or means of fighting Lucifer, but he was just killing more people and using more influential people. Cas was withdrawing again, no matter how much Dean tried to tell him that this wasn't his fault.</p><p>Dean focused on finishing his project. It felt like all he could do.</p><p>---</p><p>Everyone was working in the library and war rooms. Charlie and Sam were on their computers. Elijah was using Dean's, theoretically, because he needed to do school, but Dean suspected he was researching. Dean poured himself a glass of whiskey and slumped into one of the leather chairs at the side of the library. He took a deep swallow and then choked a little.</p><p>"What the<em> hell </em> !" He yelled, unintentionally getting everyone's attention. "Is this <em> apple juice </em>?"</p><p>"Yes," Cas said casually, dropping into the chair on the other side of what was supposed to be a liquor cart. "I thought it was inappropriate to have alcohol within such easy reach of underage youth." He nodded towards Elijah and Magda.</p><p>"Cas..." Dean growled. "Where's my whiskey?"</p><p>Cas looked at him steadily. "In a locked cabinet in the kitchen. Here's the key." He held out his hand, a small key lying on the palm. Looking back into his eyes, Dean saw only trust. He'd expected Cas to fight with him more about it. They'd had a few arguments about his drinking already.</p><p>Dean sighed. "You keep it for now. I'll be fine with apple juice." Cas nodded and put the key back into his pocket. "Sam, you find anything? Anyone powerful or respectable who suddenly changed. Or exploded?"</p><p>"Well, this is pretty interesting," Sam said, and Dean and Cas came over to look. There was a news article, headline reading 'Record Donation to Dioceses.' Sam clicked on a picture. "This is the Archbishop of St. Louis with Wallace Parker." He showed the picture to them.</p><p>"So?" Dean shrugged.</p><p>Sam nodded, "So, that was him three days ago." He scrolled and found another picture. "And this...is him last night at the opening of a food kitchen. Notice anything missing?"</p><p>"Yeah, the big mother of a cross around his neck," Dean said, pointing out the only difference in the man's official raiment.</p><p>"Exactly," Sam said, "And this morning, his office canceled all further public appearances without comment."</p><p>"Okay, so you think that, uh, Lucifer blasted out of Parker and into his buddy the Archbishop here."</p><p>"Odd that he would take a priest, but not impossible," Cas said. "He probably just seeks more worship."</p><p>Sam shrugged. "Worth a shot."</p><p>"Yeah," said Dean.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Surprisingly, Missouri decided she was going to come along on this outing. She told Charlie to stay with Magda and Elijah, but the redhead refused and got into the car anyway. Missouri shrugged and murmured, "Your own fault, girl."</p><p>Dean had to insist someone stay with Magda and Elijah. "Charlie, you know you can do more for us from here anyway with your setup. The whole point is to make it so you can stay here or work from a van that isn't directly in the line of fire, okay? You're supposed to be our Watchtower, remember?"</p><p>"Allison Mack and her rape cult have sullied the name of Justice League's Watchtower," Charlie argued sulkily, "but yes, I'm Watchtower." She sniffled. "And you're going to get me my own baby Lucille so I can follow you sometimes and help from there."</p><p>Dean nodded and hugged her tightly, pressing a kiss to her hair.</p><p>---</p><p>It was dark and raining when they reached St Louis. Missouri had been relatively quiet during the drive, her usual energy gone, and the other three had fed off her mood. By the time they pulled up to the Archdiocese building, there was a pervasive sense of dread in the group.</p><p>They left the Impala and walked up to the front door.</p><p>"It's awfully quiet," Dean murmured.</p><p>"Yeah," Sam agreed. "I put in a dozen calls to the Chief of Staff. No one returned."</p><p>"Something terrible has happened," Missouri said. Her voice wobbled, and she stared into the distance as if she could see through the walls. Cas put a hand on her shoulder, looking concerned.</p><p>"Well," Dean said, "let's see what we can do. If it is Lucifer, we can call Crowley and Rowena."</p><p>"Hey," Sam called out and rang the doorbell.</p><p>"We need to go in, now," Missouri told them. She nodded to Cas, and he pushed past the brothers and shoved the door open, breaking the lock on the door. He started into the room first.</p><p>Dean followed closely. He tried the light switch, but nothing happened. Sam and he pulled out their flashlights to light the way. The first room they entered was a familiar scene, the whirlwind evidence of a struggle with detritus on the floor and overturned chairs.</p><p>"There's someone alive here," Cas called. The group rushed over to him.</p><p>A priest lay on the floor, bloody and severely injured. Cas laid a few fingers on the man's forehead, and there was a flare of grace and light as the angel healed the priest. Dean crouched down and helped the man to sit up. He was staring at Cas with awe and started to make the sign of the cross.</p><p>"Father, hey," Dean said, "What happened?"</p><p>"Are you angels?" the priest whispered. "</p><p>"Not all of us, sugar," Missouri told him. "Only that one who healed you. The rest of us are plain human folk like you."</p><p>This statement seemed to confuse the priest more than thinking they were all angels, and he shook his head slowly and then just kept staring at Cas. It irritated Dean, and he nudged the man's shoulder and repeated his question.</p><p>"What happened here?"</p><p>The priest finally looked up at him. "We... knew something was wrong. He... he..."</p><p>"The Archbishop?" Dean clarified.</p><p>"Uh-huh," the priest nodded. He started to look upset. "Senior staff decided...handle internally and intervene.</p><p>"An exorcism," Cas guessed, and the other man nodded.</p><p>Dean, Cas, and Sam made a quick check of the rest of the Archdiocese. They found three dead bodies: a nun with a slit throat, a priest impaled to the wall, and the Archbishop with his eyes burned out. All the crosses hanging on the walls were upside down.</p><p>They met back downstairs to decide their next step. The priest introduced himself as Hugo de la Croix.</p><p>"Well, the one downside of healing you," Dean said to the priest, "is that now you're going to be the main suspect in this murder thing." Everyone looked at him in shock, and he held his hands up. "I'm not saying we shouldn't have healed you! I'm just saying we have to plan this! Ideas?"</p><p>Missouri crossed her arms, "I'm not the felon, here, boy. You figure this one out."</p><p>Sam stood up from where he'd been sitting and staring at nothing in particular. "Well, we need him to have an alibi and no evidence here."</p><p>Dean nodded. "Okay. Cas, can you clean up his blood completely from the area and his clothes?" When Cas nodded and got to work, he turned to the priest. "Is there a parishioner who either has a terrible memory or is completely loyal to you? We need to say you were visiting someone late and just came back to find this."</p><p>Hugo hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. He rubbed at a handmade bracelet on his wrist, and Missouri leaned over and touched it.</p><p>"Oh, don't be stupid," she scolded after a moment. "That woman loves you like her own son, and she would happily hide a few bodies for you. Let's go right now."</p><p>"I, I thought you said you were human?" Hugo said hesitantly.</p><p>Dean shrugged as he guided the group towards the entrance, "She is human, but she's a psychic. It's a bit confusing. Sam and I are the normal ones." Cas followed them, having finished the clean-up job. He touched Hugo's shirt and cleaned it as well.</p><p>They all loaded into the car. Dean was actually considering getting a vehicle with more seating if this kept up. What had changed that made Baby into a soccer mom carpool instead of his badass hunting machine?</p><p>Once they were driving, Hugo in the passenger seat to give directions, Dean asked the question that had been bugging him. "Why would an exorcism make Lucifer go crazy like that? It's not like it works on angels."</p><p>Hugo turned slowly to give Dean a look of utter betrayal. "You said you were<em> normal </em> .<em> What </em> ?<em> WHAT </em> ? <em> LUCIFER </em> ?" He was shrieking now. "Are you saying<em> LUCIFER </em> was possessing my<em> Archbishop </em>?"</p><p>"Yes," Cas answered calmly. "He's recently... been released from the cage." Dean met Cas's eyes in the rearview, having noticed his voice tighten at the end. He gave the angel an encouraging nod. Cas breathed and continued, "Anyway, he's been jumping from vessel to vessel as they are too weak to hold him for long. We followed him to Wallace Parker, and from there to the Archbishop. That's why we came tonight. We are hoping to confront him and do... something, I guess."</p><p>"What?<em> You don't even have a plan </em>?" Hugo asked in a shrill voice.</p><p>Sam shrugged his massive shoulders, squishing Missouri farther in the middle of the backseat. "I mean, we've fought him before and kind of won? We got him back into the cage that time at least."</p><p>"Oh my God," Hugo said fervently and crossed himself. He just breathed for a minute, and then, to everyone's surprise, he answered Dean's question.</p><p>"I'm guessing the reason it had such an effect, and it did have a powerful effect: making him burn through the Archbishop's skin and scream with rage and pain, is because of the rite we used. You may be thinking of a minor exorcism, which is a prayer or series of blessings designed to remove a demonic influence. A major exorcism is a special rite that must be approved by a bishop, and it includes much more elaborate planning. It should be performed on sacred ground and should not be handled alone. There are scriptures to read and prayers to say. The lead priest will then baptize the person with blessed, or holy, water and such.</p><p>"Of course," he continued, "I understand now that it couldn't have truly worked because the possessor was an angel. Even an angel as warped and turned from God as Lucifer would not have succumbed."</p><p>"How do you know all that?" Sam asked. It was his turn to be in awe. "Most people just think Satan is a big demon if they believe anything at all."</p><p>Hugo turned to look at Sam. "I'm a priest," he shrugged. "Plus, I have two PHDs in Hebrew Bible and Classic Religions, so I'm pretty well up on angel and demon differences. Speaking of which," he twisted to look the other way so he could see Cas, "I didn't get your name!"</p><p>"Castiel," said Cas. "But the human I was talking to wasn't paying attention, and so I was labeled as Cassiel for a while, and it just seemed to stick in most writings. Also," he held up a hand to stop Hugo's excitement that was clearly about to pour out, "I'm not an archangel. That was another misconception. I'm a seraph."</p><p>"Castiel! Angel of Thursday or Saturday depending on the text," Hugo said excitedly. He quietly hummed as they drove. "The Angel of Solitude and Tears, if I remember right."</p><p>Dean looked at Cas in the rearview mirror again. He had turned to stare out the window at the dark sky, and Dean's heart ached for all his angel had lost. He had had enough solitude and tears, and if Dean could help it, there would be a lot less of both for Cas.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>"Hey, Dean, I think we're going the wrong way," Sam commented from the passenger seat, studying the map. Hugo had gotten his alibi, and the woman had been happy to help, especially after he had told her of the horrors he had seen. Then they took him back to the Archdiocese and let him call the police while they vanished quietly into the pre-dawn light.</p><p>"Just a little side stop," Dean assured him. Sam was staring at him, waiting for answers, so he sighed and continued. "I need to get supplies for my project."</p><p>He pulled up to the curb on a suburban street and got out of the car. Cas and Sam were staring at him, but Missouri just smiled gently at him and nodded.</p><p>"I'll be right back." He smiled at them and tapped the top of the car before walking off.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>It was late that day by the time they made it back to the bunker. Dean made his way slowly down the entrance stairs. He'd stopped to get takeout after dropping the others at the bunker since no one felt like cooking tonight.</p><p>Charlie was swiping through photos on someone's phone at the first desk in the library and gagging. "Oh God, that's so gross. What the hell?" Dean wondered what they'd gotten up to while he was gone.</p><p>"I agree," Cas said. The irritation was apparent in his voice. "The level of violence, it's completely unnecessary."</p><p>"Lucifer doesn't like to get messed with," Sam nodded. Dean figured he would know. "I guess when the Archbishop's priests figured out he was possessed, they tried to keep it quiet, do an exorcism."</p><p>Cas met Dean's eyes as he came through the war room towards them. Dean gave him a smile and a small salute with the bag of takeout.</p><p>"I mean, not that it would've worked," Sam continued. "Lucifer blew town, but not before he slaughtered the entire staff. So we were on the right trail. Where's it go now?"</p><p>"I don't know," Dean said as he came up the steps, "who won the Nobel Peace Prize? Why don't we start there? Anyway, I've got grub. Let's put the crime scene pics away and get the kids to come out here."</p><p>"No!" Sam held up a finger. "We ruled no eating in the library. War room and kitchen are fine, but not with the books! Do you know how old some of these are?"</p><p>"Fine," Dean shrugged. He didn't mind all that much. The kitchen was a happier-feeling place anyway. "ELIJAH! MAGDA! FOOD!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. Charlie covered her ears, but Sam and Cas just gave him identical bitchfaces.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>"Did the Bunker's warding fucking<em> fail </em>?" Cas asked, irritated, just as Dean was coming into the war room sometime the next day.</p><p>"I just powered it down," Dean said, and Cas dropped the newspaper he had been reading to stare at Dean. "Crowley called, said he had some big news about Lucifer, whatever the hell that means."</p><p>"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," Sam protested from the seat across from Cas. "Wait a second. So—so now Crowley can just... what, drop in whenever he feels like it? I-I prefer keeping Crowley at a distance. Long distance."</p><p>Dean shrugged and dropped into a chair next to Cas.</p><p>"Not very charitable, Moose..." Crowley said from behind Sam. The younger man gave a frustrated head Shake. "...particularly since, once again, I'm saving both your asses." He paused for drama. "So, as you know, I'm temporarily persona non grata in my own palace."</p><p>There was an echo as Sam and Dean both asked in scoffing disbelief, "<em> Palace </em>?"</p><p>Crowley ignored them. "However, there are those I still control. Operatives."</p><p>"Crowley, can we just get the damn news without the drama?" Sam asked.</p><p>"Can I get you without the flannel?" Crowley parried. "No. Still, I endure."</p><p>Cas tried to hide a snort under a cough, but considering he didn't actually have to breathe, it wasn't convincing. Dean punched his shoulder in retaliation. Cas must have been expecting it because it didn't feel like hitting a brick wall. Just normal muscle.</p><p>"Well, you do wear a;<em> lot </em>of flannel," Cas whispered to Dean.</p><p>"What?" Sam protested. Crowley was shoving Sam over to get at his laptop.</p><p>Crowley explained as he did something with Sam's laptop. "Did a little digging, acting on a tip. And I think I know the identity of Lucifer's newest vessel." He paused for effect, and Dean rolled his eyes. "Huh? Aha!" He turned the laptop so they could all see. "Gentlemen... I give you one Jefferson Rooney, President of these United States."</p><p>Perhaps the drama was deserved in this case.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>"Okay, family meeting time!" Dean and Cas went to pull in everyone while Crowley went to talk Rowena into joining the team. It took a few minutes to find everyone, but soon they were all there, crowded around and on top of the library tables.</p><p>Missouri sat at one end, still quiet from their last trip out. Then Sam and Elijah sat on one side of the table, with Magda seated on the table near her brother with her knees pulled to her chin. Cas was standing at the other end of the table and occasionally pacing. Dean sat by him, and Charlie had pulled over one of the leather chairs between Dean and Missouri. Mary was also there, but on speakerphone in the middle of the table.</p><p>Everyone was surprisingly up to date on Lucifer developments. Dean wasn't very good at sharing how things were going, mostly when he felt he was failing. It turned out, though, that Dean was keeping Charlie informed, and Cas was for Mary. Elijah was shockingly good at putting pieces together and quietly eavesdropping, which they would have to discuss later. Missouri and Magda just knew what everyone was thinking, so that shouldn't have surprised them in retrospect.</p><p>"Even if Crowley does bring in Rowena, the problem remains," Cas said. "Lucifer can't be returned to the cage inside his vessel. His essence has to be extracted."</p><p>"Why not?" Charlie asked. "He was in his vessel when Sam dropped him back down there."</p><p>"It's the spell that Rowena is using," Missouri explained. "It can only trap the grace of the angel, not the soul of a human."</p><p>"Yeah. And Lucifer has found the perfect safe house," Sam grumbled. "I mean, how do we even start getting close to the President?"</p><p>"<em> Wait... </em> " Mary said, " <em> We're really going to try to go after the president </em>?"</p><p>"Well, it helps that he's not in D.C.," Charlie said, typing on the laptop sitting on her bent knees. "He's actually on a fundraising swing through the Midwest, so that's actually some pretty awesome luck for us."</p><p>Sam was working on his laptop, too. "Yeah, right now, it looks like his whole party—aides, Secret Service, the whole circus—is staying at an estate owned by Ron Forester, the, uh, hedge fund zillionaire. It's right outside Indianapolis. But it is completely surrounded by walls, security, Secret Service, military." He shrugged. "Plan B?"</p><p>Charlie waved a hand at her screen, "Well, he's got a nightmare of a speaking schedule. He's averaging three events a day, and he's got a gala dinner on Friday night."</p><p>"Well, at least he'll be outside of the mansion, then," Cas commented.</p><p>"Yeah, guarded like the Hope Diamond. Plan C?" Sam asked.</p><p>There was a moment of silence.</p><p>"Okay," Dean said. "We don't have a plan right now. That's okay. We almost never have a plan. Let's work on figuring out what we do have."</p><p>"'Now if only we had a wheelbarrow, that would be something,'" Charlie quoted.</p><p>Dean pointed at her, "Exactly! We need to list our assets! Okay, first is people. We've got an angel, a demon, a witch, and one or two psychics depending on how ready Magda feels, plus four hunters if Mom thinks she can join us. Those are just the ones on standby. We can call others if we find something they can do to help."</p><p>"I'm in," Magda said firmly. "I've been fighting the devil for five years, and I'm ready to get a hit in. I've still got a lot to learn, but I've got control enough to be helpful." She looked to Missouri, who nodded.</p><p>"Okay," Dean agreed. "Then for information. We've got Father Hugo searching texts for info on getting an angel out of a vessel. Crowley has someone feeding him info on the President. Other than that, we're a bit low.</p><p>"Weapons. We have nothing that will kill him. But possibly we can do some damage with angel blades." Dean paused. "Is that it?"</p><p>"<em> Have you considered calling that Mick Davies guy </em>?" Mary asked, cautiously.</p><p>"Do you think he was legit?" Dean asked. "I guess we really could use some info and help on this one."</p><p>"But that's the slippery slope!" Charlie argued. "If you let him 'help' this time, then you'll supposedly 'owe' him something. It's how a lot of abusive relationships start!"</p><p>"Uh..." Sam said quietly, "I already tried calling. He didn't pick up."</p><p>Dean sighed. "I thought we were trying to talk about this stuff? As a family?"</p><p>Sam shook his head, "No, I had to call him! It was important."</p><p>Dean saw the familiar tremble that Sam got whenever they pulled him too far from whatever plan he was supposed to follow. He looked at Cas, who was looking back with understanding. "It's fine, Sam. If he calls back, we'll figure it out then, alright? And, Charlie, come on, I'm not hooking up with the guy. It's a friggin job."</p><p>"She's right, honey," Missouri said. "It doesn't have to be about sex to be an abusive relationship, but that isn't the point. We still don't understand these people's motives. You should be careful." She turned to Charlie then, "But, you, girl, need to think about the bigger picture, too. Lucifer has to be stopped, and soon." She got a faraway look in her eyes. "But something is coming first. I need to go lie down."</p><p>Dean jumped up to help her get up to her room on the top floor. She paused at the steps, though, and turned back to the group. "You all need to go to bed now. You need good sleep and then a hearty breakfast in the morning. Everyone's going to need their strength." Then she took Dean's arm to support her across the war room and up the stairs.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>It was hard to get everyone settled that night. With Missouri's warning in mind, they all eventually decided to let Cas put them into a deep sleep instead of trying to fight it.</p><p>Dean was the hardest to convince, even though he'd just helped convince everyone else to let Cas help.</p><p>"I need to show you something before I sleep anyway," Dean said as he dragged Cas down to the garage. He had forbidden anyone from looking at his project until he was ready, though Magda and Missouri had been giving him annoying smirks in return for that order.</p><p>"Dean, what are you doing?" Cas asked as Dean positioned him in front of the tarp-draped shape in the center of the garage. He had kept Baby outside recently so there would be enough room in the middle.</p><p>"You know, we should pick a birthday for you," Dean commented. "Is there a date for the beginning of time?"</p><p>"Considering God created us before he created time, that wouldn't help you very much," Cas replied quietly. "But why do you want a birthday for me?"</p><p>Dean shrugged. "Because I have a birthday present."</p><p>"Ah." Cas stared at Dean, then nodded. "Perhaps today should be my birthday, then," he said softly.</p><p>"Alright, then," Dean said just as softly. "December 8th. Happy birthday, Cas." Dean walked around the car and pulled the tarp off the car.</p><p>Cas just looked at it for a few minutes, his eyes running along the new blue paint. It had taken Dean a while to find a color that he'd been happy with, but this bright azure was perfect in the human's perspective. Cas looked up as Dean came back around, meeting his gaze with eyes the exact shade of blue.</p><p>"It's beautiful," Cas murmured. He reached out and ran a finger down the chrome trim. The vehicle was a classic station wagon, fully restored with smooth lines and shining details.</p><p>Dean cleared his throat and focused on the car. "It's a '97 Mercury Comet Voyager," he said. Cas looked up at the name, and Dean smirked. "I thought you could have a turn riding a comet. Plus, it has plenty of seating in case you pick up more strays."</p><p>Cas smiled and turned back to the car. He touched the gleaming roof rack bars that swept back along the top of the vehicle.</p><p>Dean spoke quietly, "This was the closest I could get to giving you wings."</p><p>Cas spun back around, his mouth open slightly. "Dean! I never asked you..."</p><p>"I know!" Dean held a hand up. "I..." He hesitated, trying to find the words. "I know you still feel guilty about the whole Lucifer SNAFU, Cas," he leaned back against a pillar and shoved his hands through his hair. "I wanted to show you that I trust you."</p><p>"Dean..." Cas tilted his head in confusion.</p><p>"I've been, well," Dean chuckled, embarrassed, "I've been fucking terrified to give you this car, Cas. Half of me is sure you're gonna take your little wings here and disappear off to handle things on your own again." He put a hand on Cas's arm and looked him in the eye, "But I trust you, Cas. You're my best friend. And I know you've felt like you had to do things on your own in the past. But I'm asking you, please, let us help you with this one, and with the one that comes after. We're going to fight as a family now."</p><p>Blue eyes studied green. Cas whispered, "I wish you hadn't made me vow not to read your mind." After a few moments, the angel nodded, and Dean hugged him tightly. Relief crashed through the human in a tidal wave.</p><p>"Alright, now," Cas gruffly said as he pulled away, "Missouri said you have to get sleep." He put a hand on Dean's arm and dragged him towards the stairs. "I'll take a better look at my wings tomorrow. Also, I really would prefer if you'd let me help you sleep better tonight," he said, with a short glance at Dean.</p><p>"We already talked about this," Dean muttered, stomping up the stairs. "I don't think it's a great idea for so many of us to be magically sleeping."</p><p>"Do you think you're actually going to get sleep tonight otherwise?" Cas shot back.</p><p>Dean shrugged. He opened the hall door and led the way towards his bedroom. "What if something happens?" he argued. "You'd be all alone."</p><p>Cas followed him into the room. "I would wake you up," he said dryly.</p><p>Dean glared at Cas until he sighed heavily and turned around so Dean could strip down to a t-shirt and boxers. The human slipped into the blankets before continuing the argument.</p><p>"But what if you were incapacitated and couldn't reach Sam or me in time, and then we were just all sleeping as they killed us all or something? Or what if you were on the other side of the bunker and couldn't hear us being murdered, and we couldn't wake our own sleeping beauty asses up?"</p><p>Cas sat on the edge of the bed. "Last time I offered to watch over while you slept, you got very angry." He pointed out.</p><p>Dean blushed and looked away, "Well, last time, I could wake myself up if I needed to."</p><p>"Would you like me to stay here while you sleep? Then I can wake you immediately if something happens."</p><p>"Yeah, I mean, you can just hang out and use my laptop or whatever and..." Dean trailed off as Cas raised a hand towards his forehead. "Wait, lemme lie down!" He lay down awkwardly and lay as flat as a board.</p><p>Cas raised an eyebrow. "Are you ready? Also, I'm perfectly able to entertain myself. I'm alone almost every night anyway." He shrugged like it was nothing, but Dean was reminded of Hugo's words.<em> Angel of Solitude and Tears. </em></p><p>"Yeah, I'm ready," Dean said quietly. "Just... stay here." Cas touched his temple, and he fell asleep.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Dean, Cas, and Missouri all worked together to make up a large breakfast the next morning. Missouri had decided on cinnamon apple oatmeal because it would "stick to their bones" and had it boiling on the stove. Dean was frying bacon at the stove, as well, while Cas took omelet orders on the big griddle top. The angel's cooking skills had improved in the last few months by leaps and bounds.</p><p>There wasn't a lot of chatter as they worked. Missouri seemed far away. Dean was still struggling with his wake-up.</p><p>He had woken from the best sleep he had ever had. There had been zero nightmares either of the typical in-your-sleep type or the more physical kind that with the territory of hunting literal monsters and was the reason he kept a gun under his pillow and silver and iron knives in the nightstand. And why most of his bedroom decor could kill people.</p><p>But there had been a new addition to his bedroom decor that morning. An angel, sitting on the bed against the headboard, with his legs stretched out next to Dean. And from the sounds coming from the phone, the angel was playing Angry Birds.</p><p>The night before had shaken something in one of the lockboxes in Dean's brain. One that he'd locked up so many times it was a damn Matryoshka doll of denial and betrayal and anger and grief. But it was coming closer to the surface these days, and he could feel the emotions rattling in their little cage. And this morning had threatened to shatter it. But he shoved it down hard again, locking it in another layer of "not the time."</p><p>When the food was ready, Elijah and Magda carried most of it out to the war room, where they had decided to eat. Dean brought the bacon tray in one hand and the last plate with an omelet on it in the other.</p><p>Dean started yelling to the stragglers to come to the table. Cas had made some coffee and was carrying two cups of it in. Dean wasn't paying much attention until the crash as the cups shattered on the floor.</p><p>He rushed over, catching one of Cas's elbows. The angel was shaking and holding his head with one hand and grabbing for support with the other. Elijah rushed to steady his other side.</p><p>"Cas?" Dean asked. "Cas? Hey." He steadied Cas and motioned for Magda to pull over a chair. Sam, Missouri, and Charlie were making their way in, concern evident on all their faces.</p><p>"Something's happened," Cas managed, "something... Angel radio... There are so many voices."</p><p>"What are they saying?" Sam asked.</p><p>"There's been a massive surge in celestial energy." The tension eased a bit, and he swayed towards Dean. They got him settled into the chair as he explained. "A Nephilim has come into being. It's the offspring of an angel and a human."</p><p>"And that's big news?" Elijah asked.</p><p>Cas nodded, "Yes, but the power to produce this is immense. It's much, much greater than a typical angel."</p><p>"Lucifer," Sam said quietly.</p><p>Dean looked at Cas, "W— Lucifer?" They all paused for a moment to let that sink in.</p><p>"Wow," Charlie said, nervously, "I didn't know he was dating."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Everyone decided they wanted to come.</p><p>Cas put his foot down about Elijah. Mary wanted desperately to be able to help but felt stuck by whatever strings were pulling her. Oddly, though, she felt like she could come to the bunker once the brothers had left. So they started out with Charlie and waited at the first rest stop.</p><p>Mary indeed had no trouble coming to the bunker, and Cas thanked her profusely for being there to help protect Elijah. Then he thanked Elijah for helping to protect Mary because she was a dear part of their family as well. This finally eased the angry scowl the fifteen-year-old had worn since Cas had told him he couldn't come.</p><p>Cas and Magda gave the other two tight hugs, and Elijah had both of them promise to stay as safe. Mary asked Cas quietly to please keep an eye on her boys. Then they loaded up in Cas's new car and took off to meet the others.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Sam probably wished he'd ridden in the other car. They were on hour two of The Movie Game. It started with one person naming an actor, and then the next had to say a movie that person was in, and then the following had to name an actor in that movie, and so on. Games like this were much more fun with a third party, so Sam was roped into playing.</p><p>He finally hushed them when he got a call from Crowley. Dean checked his rearview mirror to make sure the blue station wagon was right behind them. Cas was still driving, he noticed. He looked comfortable in the seat, one arm on the windowsill. They passed a sign reading "Indianapolis - 50."</p><p>"Yeah, and hey, Crowley?" Sam was saying. "Uh, find out from your government mole if there's a girlfriend or a mistress or a favorite hooker. Someone we don't know about... got it. All right." He hung up the call and turned to talk to the other two. "Crowley and Rowena will meet us in Indianapolis. Do we have a plan?"</p><p>"Why do you keep asking like one will magically appear?" Dean asked. "We've gotta reenact National Treasure 2 and find Rosemary's Baby."</p><p>"Mia Farrow," Charlie replied absently.</p><p>"The Omen," Dean returned.</p><p>A black SUV pulled up beside the Impala and turned on flashing lights.</p><p>"Aw, crap," Dean muttered.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Both cars pulled over, much to Dean's annoyance. He would have preferred if Cas had just kept driving.</p><p><em> Stay in the car. </em> He prayed to his angel. <em> We got this. </em>He added to Charlie, "Stay in the car, kiddo."</p><p>Sam was already getting out of the car, and Dean hurried to follow. The men approaching weren't cops—possibly the real FBI.</p><p>"Gentlemen, is there a problem?" Sam asked.</p><p>Dean flashed a smile and his FBI badge, not giving them time to look at it closely. "Federal Agents, guys. We need to keep going."</p><p>"And I need six grand by Saturday," said the man leading the other agents, "but that ain't happening either."</p><p>"You guys know who you're talking to?" Sam bluffed.</p><p>"Winchesters."</p><p>The sound of his name made Dean's heart sink. If this guy knew their names, Lucifer had probably put them on official watch lists and stuff. They were going to have to go back to Frank Devaroux levels of dark.</p><p>The man continued to badger them. "You make those toy badges in craft class on the psyche ward? Nice car, by the way. Really stands out." He pulled a gun from his holster. Dean was just as fast on the metaphorical trigger, though, and grabbed his arm, punching him in the face.</p><p>The rest of his team bolted from the cars the moment his fist flew.</p><p>Sam barely even tried to talk them down. "Hey," he said. "Wait a second now." Then he slammed one of his opponents into the Impala and punched another. Cas touched each of them as they were distracted by Sam, and they fell unconscious to the ground.</p><p>The guy in the suit got the gun away from Dean and pointed it at him.</p><p>"Stop!" the man shouted, "Don't move!"</p><p>Cas grunted and almost moved anyway to tackle someone. Dean wasn't sure who. But the gun flew out of the man's hand and into Magda's. She shook a bit as she held it but smiled in victory.</p><p>Dean shrugged at the agent, "Sorry, dude. We've gotta get going." Cas came over and patted him, looking for injuries. "Hey, buddy, do you think you jedi mind trick them? I think Magda's too shook up, or I'd have her try." Cas stared at him, then nodded and turned to the agent.</p><p>"You pulled over the wrong car. You apologized to the nice vacationing couple." Then he went and touched each of the other men. They got up, smiled vaguely, and waved before climbing into their car and driving off.</p><p>"I have to say," came a British voice from behind them, "that was rather amusing."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>Dean spun around and realized he'd managed to miss a shiny black Bentley pulling up during the chaos. A man was coming towards them, peering into the distance at the disappearing SUV. Dean already assumed he was a douche based on his car.</p><p>"U.S. government plates. Elite dogcatcher level." He mused. "Someone special wants you. Whose hydrant have you lads been tinkling on?" Dean walked over to the Impala while the man talked and pulled out his own gun. They'd returned the agent's so he wouldn't note it missing.</p><p>"I'm sorry," Dean interrupted, not sorry at all, "but who the hell are you?" He looked the man over and noticing the cross tattooed onto the back of his hand. He raised the gun and aimed it.</p><p>"Oh. Where are my manners?" the man chirped, "Arthur Ketch. British Men of Letters."</p><p>"You're the one who was hunting Magda in that hospital," Dean accused. The tension shifted around him. Cas started pushing Magda into his car. Sam seemed to grow as he moved into protect mode, and Dean was about one slimy word from pulling the trigger.</p><p>"The psychic? She was a monster. She killed p-"</p><p>Dean didn't get a chance to shoot Ketch because Cas decked him. Knocked him out with a single punch.</p><p>"That's my fucking<em> child </em>you are insulting, you filthy worm," Cas hissed at Ketch's unconscious body.</p><p>"Damn, Cas," Dean murmured. That box in his head was giving him problems again.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>They decided not to kill Ketch for now, as he could still provide information on the Men of Letters and possibly gear if the gadgetry in his trunk were anything to go by. Cas drove the man's car and kept him unconscious in the backseat.</p><p>The now three-car caravan made it the rest of the way to the Plains Motel without incident. Missouri booked the rooms so that Dean wouldn't be on any surveillance tapes. They had chosen this motel for its double room cabins that were separate enough from each other that some noise, or chanting, shouldn't be a problem. They booked two full cabins, which gave them four bedrooms and eight beds total.</p><p>Dean and Sam got Ketch bound to a chair in one of the second cabin's bedrooms while the girls got their things settled. Cas called Elijah and chatted with him quietly until Ketch woke up. They insisted Magda stay away from the man, so she and Charlie wouldn't come back until later. Missouri joined them after a few minutes, though.</p><p>Dean noticed the way Arthur Ketch woke up. He himself did the same way: instant assessment of danger even before consciousness had wholly settled. The man didn't open his eyes immediately but carefully moved his arms and legs to test his restraints and then peered out at the room through slitted eyes, not ready to make his awareness obvious.</p><p>"Hey, sorry for the rough treatment," Dean said cheerfully, "but you insulted a member of our family. And also, you tried to hunt her. We don't exactly look kindly upon that here."</p><p>"I'm a hunter, much like you are," said Ketch calmly. "Only I finish the jobs I start."</p><p>Cas stood up sharply from the bed, and Dean laid a hand on his arm. "Hey, buddy, how about you take a walk while we deal with this guy, okay?" Cas nodded and stormed from the cabin.</p><p>"That's the angel, right? I always thought they were more of a... stoic lot."</p><p>Dean shrugged, "He adopted the girl. So you need to understand if there's any possibility of us working with you or your friends, she is off-limits. If something bad happens, we'll handle it ourselves. Is that understood?"</p><p>Ketch sighed. "I don't understand, per se, but I am under orders, and I'm willing to abide by that restriction, yes."</p><p>Dean looked to Missouri, who stood quietly behind Ketch and nodded. Good, that meant he was sincere. "All right, then, how about we talk a little before I feel comfortable enough to release you?" The other man sighed but nodded. "So why were you out on that road today?"</p><p>Charlie came in to join the group as Ketch started talking. "It's all very simple, really," he said. "Mick Davies asked you to join our effort, which we're taking international. My instructions are to strongly encourage a "yes."</p><p>"So, what?" Charlie asked. "You've just been following us?" She shivered.</p><p>"Not at all," Ketch replied. "We're good dogs. We only come when called. And<em> he </em>called." The man nodded towards Sam.</p><p>Dean nodded, but Sam stammered, "I-I didn't, uh... I hung up."</p><p>"Yes, you did," Ketch agreed, "which made Mr. Davies think that you were in trouble, which you were. So he rings me—Bing, bang, boom. Meet Bob. He's your uncle. Oh, and, um, you're welcome. Hmm?"</p><p>"For what? We saved ourselves," Dean reminded him.</p><p>Ketch looked confused. "Oh, right. Yes, you did. That was strange. Anyway, fine job done there. I do personally enjoy more of a dramatic touch, but you got the bad guys to go away with no memory of the incident, so bravo you. And you should believe me. Where's the angel? He can tell you..."</p><p>He trailed off as he twisted around, spotting Missouri standing calmly behind him. "Oh, hullo," Ketch said, "I don't think we've been introduced."</p><p>"He's telling the truth about recruiting you boys," Missouri told Sam and Dean, ignoring Ketch. She walked around since he had seen her. Sitting on the edge of one of the beds, Missouri took Ketch's hand in hers and looked at it. Dean noticed the man flinch.</p><p>"Oh, you're a cold one, aren't you," Missouri murmured. "You let them point you where ever they need you because you can't live without the killing. It's the only thing that makes you feel alive."</p><p>Ketch stared at her in shock and tried to pull his hand away, but his bindings stopped him. "What are you? Another psychic?" He looked at Sam and Dean, confused. "There are more monsters in your group than hunters!"</p><p>"Technically, it's half and half at the moment," Dean commented, pointing at Charlie. "She's human. But we do have a few friends arriving soon, and they certainly aren't. So how about we call your boss and talk ground rules?"</p><p>"So he's what, an assassin?" Charlie asked as Sam dialed the phone. Missouri nodded.</p><p>"<em> Oh, hello </em> ," Mick Davies answered on the phone. Sam had set it on the bed so they could all hear. " <em> I assume Mr. Ketch was able to get you out of whatever trouble you were having </em>?"</p><p>"Uh, no, actually," Sam replied. "He caught up with us, but Dean recognized him as having hunted a member of our family a couple of months ago. So we are holding him until you can help us straighten this out."</p><p>"<em> Oh dear </em> ," Mick said. " <em> Is he there? Are you harming him </em>?"</p><p>Ketch sighed. "I'm here, Mr. Davies. And I'm perfectly fine except for what will probably be a rather splendid black eye from the angel. He took offense to something I said."</p><p>"<em> I see. Who is it they are accusing you of hunting </em>?"</p><p>"The psychic girl from Iowa. The one that got away," Ketch said airily.</p><p>"<em> Ah </em>."</p><p>"Look, Mick. We need to set some ground rules if there is going to be any sort of working together happening here, capiche?" Dean said. "We already know Ketch is your little assassin you send to mop up the mess, but that's not how things work around here."</p><p>"<em> That is exactly your problem, </em> " Mick insisted. " <em> Right now, you're disorganized and playing whack-a-mole with the monsters </em>."</p><p>"You don't really seem like a more enlightened group," Charlie commented, "what with the torturing Sam and having a personal wetwork guy."</p><p>"Lady Bevell is a bit... excitable," Ketch said.</p><p>"And you're better?" Sam asked.</p><p>Ketch replied, "I don't care about you one way or the other. I'm not an ideologue."</p><p>"<em> But we really do want to help American Hunters to clear this country of monsters </em> !" Mich insisted. " <em> We understand things are different here. We're eager to collaborate. The British Men of Letters are centuries old, lads. We can offer expertise, weaponry, skills, and organization. </em>"</p><p>"We're not looking to be your franchise," Dean clarified. "We're not going to copy your methods and rules and let you be the boss."</p><p>"<em> How about, as a show of faith, Mr. Ketch will give you the arsenal he carries and explain how it works. That will give you some extra tools and hopefully show you that we do intend to help </em>."</p><p>Dean looked around at the others, then looked at Sam. "We'll need to see if there's anything useful in there, but I think that seems fair," Sam told Mick. "And then we'll release Mr. Ketch, under the strict warning that he is not to hunt anyone even tangentially connected to us."</p><p>"<em> That sounds fair, </em>" Mick agreed, and the phone call ended.</p><p>Dean sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "Alright then, let's go see what's in this magic trunk of yours."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>They brought the contents of the trunk inside so everyone could see in the light. Now that the group had made a truce with Ketch, Magda had badgered Cas into bringing her back to see the gun show.</p><p>Also, their other friends had shown up. No one introduced them to Ketch so as not to tempt him to start killing allies.</p><p>"Is that a grenade launcher?" Dean's wariness was shoved aside by his excitement over new toys.</p><p>"Quite," Ketch replied, pleased. He began to monologue again, proving his place as a villain. "Our engineers have spent years blending sorcery and technology. For instance, we don't always decapitate vampires. Inefficient, really, especially for large nests." He pulled out what looked like a sci-fi ray gun from one of the many locked cases the weapons had been stored and brought from the car in. "We irradiate them, reorder their DNA. Their own blood becomes lethal to them."</p><p>"Cool." Sam acknowledged.</p><p>Ketch nodded. "Mm. The toys are the fun part, hmm?"</p><p>"I feel like James Bond," Dean whispered to Charlie and Magda. Charlie laughed, and Magda smiled.</p><p>"I don't think Q was a sociopath," Charlie retorted.</p><p>Ketch picked up another case and pulled out a large golden egg. There were ancient symbols etched into it in rings.</p><p>"Hyperbolic Pulse Generator. Exorcisms are unreliable. This device emits a force which drives the possessing demon from the vessel."</p><p>"Since when are exorcisms unreliable?" Crowley asked. "They always felt fucking reliable to me." He rubbed his chest in remembered discomfort, and Ketch turned to look at him in confusion.</p><p>"What about a, uh, possessing angel?" Sam asked. Everyone focused now on Ketch as they caught the intent behind the question.</p><p>Ketch looked around and asked, amused, "And what might you boys be working on?"</p><p>"Above your paygrade," Cas snapped. He did not like Ketch. That much was clear.</p><p>"And that means?" Ketch asked.</p><p>"So, you think we can pop Lucifer out of the President with that?" Crowley asked, and Cas threw his hands in the air. Ketch looked shocked.</p><p>"Lucifer?"</p><p>"Let's hope so," Missouri said. "Otherwise, we're all dead."</p><p>"So we pop him out," said Dean, "then Rowena zaps him back to the cage. Of course, we gotta get him here first."</p><p>Sam nodded. "Yeah. We need to get ahold of this, uh, secret girlfriend Crowley found out about. This...Kelly. Of course, she's in that mansion with the President, which is guarded like a fortress. Only one of us has a chance of getting in there."</p><p>Sam, Dean, Cas, Missouri, Charlie, and Rowena all looked at Crowley. Ketch and Magda seemed confused.</p><p>"Bollocks," said the demon.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>They waited until the next morning to start the plan because Missouri had insisted on another good night of sleep. Cas had made sure to remove Ketch's memories of their goals, and Magda and Missouri had impressed on him a desire to reform himself. Then they sent him off with a lighter trunk.</p><p>They had a boisterous pizza dinner piled around one of the bedrooms. There was a semblance of a plan for the first time, and everyone was excited. Even the tension between Crowley and Cas was lower than usual. Everyone made stupid jokes about President Satan, and there were debates on whether Lucifer could have possessed Reagan as well.</p><p>Magda experimented with levitating a piece of pizza towards her when she was too tired to move but fumbled and dropped on Cas's hair. Dean, sitting next to him, laughed uproariously. It had been a veggie slice, too, and landed upside down, so Dean spent the next half hour resisting the urge to pick bits of onion and green pepper out of Cas's soft hair.</p><p>Missouri gave them little palm readings at the end, which was an adventure in and of itself.</p><p>For Magda, the sweet: "The one you are searching for is in the mirror."</p><p>For Charlie, the ominous: "I see Death in your heart and your home."</p><p>For Castiel, the blunt: "Forgive yourself, angel. It's time to let it go and live."</p><p>For Sam, the hilarious: "You will love a beautiful woman, but she will never listen to a word you say."</p><p>For Rowena, the cautious: "You are at a crossroads, choose bitterness to consume you or love."</p><p>For Crowley, the sad: "You must let him go, sugar. You will find love again."</p><p>For Dean, the revealing: "He's dead, sugar. You have to let his words go and build this family that you have now."</p><p>It was a deeply vulnerable adventure that left them all quiet but feeling safe in their mutually assured emotional destruction. Everyone took it as the end of the party, and those who did sleep all found beds.</p><p>Magda and Dean took one room so that Cas could watch over them both since he was feeling very keyed up and Dean needed help sleeping again. Sam took the room next to theirs. Missouri and Charlie took one of the other cabin's bedrooms, and Rowena took the one next to them.</p><p>It would have been a long night, but Rowena gave everyone sleeping sachets, or Cas helped ease them to sleep. Crowley kept watch over the one cabin and Cas the other.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>It was expectedly challenging to explain to Kelly Kline what was happening, especially as she was screaming about being kidnapped.</p><p>Dean tried first. "Hey, we're trying to help you!" But he got glared at for his trouble, and Missouri made him back off.</p><p>Sam tried to hunch down to her level, but the sheer size of him wasn't helping the matter, and she started to hyperventilate, so he got banished to the corner.</p><p>"Okay!" Charlie took over. She sat on the bed next to Kelly. "So we're going to leave the big scary dudes over there. Yes, Crowley, that includes you. You're welcome. Cas, you are making scary faces, so you have to stay back, too." She turned to Kelly, who was relaxing a bit at Charlie's casual tone. "Honestly, that one is usually pretty nice.</p><p>"So here's the deal," Charlie said. "We are sort of monster-hunters, and right now, we're hunting down Lucifer, aka Satan, aka the Devil. Yeah," She nodded in response to Kelly's disbelief, "I had the same reaction. Unfortunately, a lot of the stuff that goes bump in the night exists."</p><p>"No, no, you're making it up. It's impossible." Kelly argued nervously, looking for an exit.</p><p>"Well, to be fair," Dean piped up, "so is teleporting. But...ta-da."</p><p>Kelly stared at them all in shock. "Who are you people?"</p><p>"Well, dear, I'm a witch," Rowena said with a light laugh. She waved a hand at Cas, next to her and then pointed around the group, "He's an angel, she's a psychic, another psychic, two hunters, and the one talking to you is a hunter."</p><p>Crowley raised his hand. "And I'm the King of Hell."</p><p>"Oh, God." Kelly put her face in her hands.</p><p>"No, actually," Cas said helpfully, "he left."</p><p>Sam stopped them. "Okay, guys, not helping."</p><p>"Yes, let's get back to the point," Charlie said. She focused on Kelly. "The reason we had Crowley go get you is that we needed to get close to someone<em> really </em>hard to get close to. You see, we figured out who Lucifer is possessing now." She waited and let Kelly connect the dots.</p><p>"You—you can't. He's the President."</p><p>"He was," Dean agreed, coming over to crouch in front of Kelly, "but now... Tell me he hasn't been acting different."</p><p>Kelly protested weakly, "Jeff's been under a lot of stress. He..."</p><p>"Wrong," Crowley snapped. "He's the Devil." Missouri poked him in the shoulder and glared at him. "What? He is! Horns, pitchfork, the whole nine.</p><p>"Crowley, still not helping," Sam scolded from his corner. He looked over at Kelly. "Listen, we know what we're talking about here. We have been on Lucifer's trail for a long time."</p><p>"And we know you're pregnant with his child," Rowena added sweetly.</p><p>Kelly's head shot up. "That's—that's—you're lying."</p><p>"The thing inside you, it's unholy," Cas said somberly. He opened the nightstand drawer and pulled out a bible. "It's an abomination."</p><p>"That's n—" Kelly protested.</p><p>Cas held the bible in front of Kelly. "Place your hand here," he instructed.</p><p>She did so, and everyone waited for a moment. Nothing happened. Cas stared at her and then stared at the bible.</p><p>Missouri rushed forward as everyone hesitated in confusion. "Would you mind?" she asked, gesturing at Kelly's abdomen. "May I touch you?"</p><p>Kelly nodded, and Missouri sat on the bed on the other side from Charlie. She reached out and touched the woman's belly. After a moment, her face turned to surprise and awe. Dean reached out to stop her, but she drew back after just a moment.</p><p>"Oh," she said breathlessly. "Oh, Castiel, you were wrong. This is not an abomination but the seed of a<em> soul </em>. An innocent soul, with pure archangel grace woven into it. There is no direction or purpose to it yet, no motives."</p><p>Cas knelt, and Dean shifted to the side to give him room. The angel looked to Kelly with pleading eyes. She was clearly overwhelmed by all of this, but she nodded, and he touched her where Missouri had.</p><p>"Oh," he said in surprise. "Yes." He stood and paced away, then turned earnestly to Dean. You were right."</p><p>"I don't think I argued with you," Dean pointed out.</p><p>"Not this time," Cas waved it away. "With Sam, who was supposedly an abomination, and with Jesse, the antichrist, who was supposedly another fucking<em> abomination </em>! I keep getting stuck in these rules that I think are still true even though we threw away the fucking rule book years ago!"</p><p>He started to pace through the crowded room as everyone stared at him. Kelly seemed to have just stopped being able to be shocked at the mention of an antichrist.</p><p>"This is a seed of a soul," Cas ranted, "just like any newly conceived embryo. It could become anything. Just because it has more power doesn't mean it is destined for anything specific! You are not defined by<em> your </em> father, and I am not defined by <em> mine </em> . So why should this <em> nephilim </em>be defined by its father?"</p><p>Dean held his hands up. "Okay! Missouri already convinced me. We won't do anything to the embryo." At a glance from Charlie, he amended, "I mean, unless, of course, you're uncomfortable with the whole pregnancy thing, especially knowing what you know now, because it is your body, and you<em> definitely </em>get to choose!" He stepped back, hoping to put himself out of the line of fire from both Cas and Charlie. They both seemed mollified, though.</p><p>"Does he even know you're pregnant?" Magda asked.</p><p>Kelly nodded. "Yes, he... He said he was thrilled. He said it was the only time he ever created anything."</p><p>"Kelly...we need your help," Sam said. "You have time to make a choice about the pregnancy, but we have to get Lucifer out of the president."</p><p>"Yeah," Dean muttered, "I wouldn't have voted for him, even if I did have legal ID, but I'm pretty sure Satan is worse. Especially now that Satan is in a bad mood because he and God had that not-fight and God went off to explore the universe, and now Satan feels all rejected and pissy."</p><p>Kelly stared at Dean in shock. Apparently, he could still surprise her. He shrugged. "We're a pretty complicated bunch."</p><p>"It's family drama," Charlie explained. "Cas is family, so his brother and dad are extended family, so we have to work on dealing with them."</p><p>Kelly shook her head, "I'll help, but only if you promise to let me wake up from this hallucination afterward."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>A lot of the spellwork had to be pre-prepared. Crowley grumbled about being an errand boy but happily flitted around to gather ingredients when he realized how jealous it made Cas. Missouri sat with Kelly to the side and had a counseling session to help her figure out how she would move forward after this new information. Rowena let Magda observe and even walked her through what she was doing with each step of the spell.</p><p>The rest of them just felt pretty useless.</p><p>In a quiet moment, Dean pulled Crowley outside to talk quietly. He saw Missouri watching him seriously, but she didn't stop him.</p><p>"What do you want, Squirrel?" The demon complained.</p><p>"Lucifer gave someone high up Sam and my names," Dean told him. "They were watching for our car. They're going to react fast to him being out. Presidential security is no joke."</p><p>"Why are you just now telling me this?" Crowley demanded. "I thought you were all about the sharing and caring shit these days?"</p><p>"I am. Mostly. But I'm not getting my family captured or killed. So the plan right now is we get Lucifer locked up, and then we run, right? But that leaves an unconscious POTUS, and us suspect as both hurting him and kidnapping Kelly. Or they'll think she helped, whatever. The point is, it's back to Leviathan days, and we're front-page news and our faces splashed everywhere. We won't be able to move an inch."</p><p>"So what's your grand plan, then, Nick Cage?" Crowley hissed. "Because if you don't have one, It's a bit late! Sam is helping Kelly make the call right now!"</p><p>"Right now, my plan is that you get everyone but me, Sam, and Kelly out. We'll tie her up and have her say she was kidnapped and forced to make the call. Then, you guys get her safe and figure out a plan to rescue us." He shrugged. "Sam and I are already pegged for this one, and not in a fun way. We've gotta be the fall guys."</p><p>Crowley groaned. "Why do I ever help you self-loathing monsters? Fine, but you are explaining this to Kelly. And also, you are writing a letter of pardon for me to give to your husband, so he doesn't fucking<em> kill </em>me when I don't show up with you two."</p><p>"What?" Dean was startled.</p><p>"<em> Cas-ti-el </em>," Crowley said slowly as if Dean were stupid. "If he blames me for this in any way, he will happily murder me, and I'm not dying for you. You are going to sign a contract stating this was your choice, and then he can find you and murder you for your stupidity."</p><p>Dean clenched his jaw. "I've thought through this. We need to do this to keep everyone safe. We can erase ourselves after the heat goes down a bit."</p><p>Crowley shrugged and snapped his fingers, a contract appearing in thin air. Thankfully it was quite short and simply stated that Dean was refusing rescue of his own volition and that he was of sound mind. Dean signed and stormed back into the cabin.</p><p>The phone call seemed to have ended. Dean looked to Sam, who nodded that it had gone well.</p><p>"Alright, let's go over the plan again."</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>For the first time in his life, everything went precisely as Dean had planned.</p><p>Secret Service swept the motel cabin before letting President Rooney in. Kelly opened the door, and one of the men greeted her.</p><p>Dean was waiting in the adjacent room with Sam, Rowena, Charlie, and Missouri. He could hear when someone opened the closet door where Cas and Magda were hiding.</p><p>"There's no one in here but Kelly," Cas said clearly, Magda backing up his power. "Go wait in your car."</p><p>"It's clear," said one of the agents. "Let's go."</p><p>There were a few moments of silence and then the sound of the door opening and closing again. Dean recognized the voice that spoke from countless news clips, debates, and speeches over the last year of campaigning.</p><p>"Kelly. Kelly, what's wrong?"</p><p>Kelly took on the role they had decided. "I told you on the phone. I can't have this baby."</p><p>There was a crash and a cry from Kelly. "I'm afraid I'll have to insist," Lucifer said.</p><p>They burst through the adjoining doors. Lucifer's eyes were glowing a familiar red. Sam held the egg and put his hand on a sigil they painted on the inside of the door.</p><p>"Sam!" Lucifer said, annoyed.</p><p>"<em> Vade retro</em>," Sam recited.</p><p>Lucifer complained, "We've done this dance so many times."</p><p>"<em>Princeps Inferni. </em>"</p><p>The egg started to glow, and Lucifer began to move towards Sam. White light burst from the device, shooting towards Lucifer and pushing him back. Pressure from the egg was forcing Sam back, too, though, and he struggled to keep his place.</p><p>"Sam!" Dean yelled, reaching out to try and stabilize him. He was too far, though. Dean noticed Lucifer trying to hurt them, but nothing was happening. Lightbulbs were popping as the lights continued to pour into Lucifer. "Rowena! Now!"</p><p>Rowena dropped the final spell ingredients into the bowl. She reached to take Missouri's hand, and together they chanted the words over the candles, sigils, and bowl.</p><p>"<em> Mah tay, ez loh, say tah </em>!"</p><p>Light and energy pulsed through the room, and Dean saw Cas covering Magda to shield her from the blasts. Light bled from cracks in Lucifer's skin.</p><p>"This isn't over, Sam!" Lucifer yelled. As usual, he dismissed anyone else in the room.</p><p>"Go to Hell!" Sam replied.</p><p>"<em> Mah tay, ez loh, say tah </em> !" The women chanted again. " <em> Mah tay, ez loh, say tah </em>!"</p><p>The humans covered their eyes as red light began to pour out of Lucifer's mouth. Once the glare on his eyelids dimmed, Dean opened them and saw Jeff Rooney collapsed on the floor. Cas hurried over to check on him.</p><p>"He's alive. He won't remember a thing."</p><p>Kelly collapsed into a heap. "Oh, Jeff. Oh, my God. Jeff? Oh, my God.</p><p>Sam stammered. "We gotta go. Get her out of here. Go."</p><p>"Wait, wait," Kelly argued.</p><p>"Sam, that's not the plan!" Dean grabbed his brother by the shoulder.</p><p>"Kelly, you gotta go. Go." Sam urged, trying to shake off Dean's hand.</p><p>"Look, we only have a few minutes until the agents shake off our compulsion," Cas warned. "What are we doing?"</p><p>"Okay, Crowley," Dean nodded to the demon. "I need you to take Cas and Magda first, okay?"</p><p>The demon nodded, grabbed the two by the shoulder, and disappeared before Cas could get out more than an angry, "Dean!"</p><p>"Oh, Dearie, you are in deep trouble there," Rowena warned, which was not helpful.</p><p>"Okay, listen up," Dean said quickly, "we don't have much time. Missouri and Charlie. Crowley's coming back for you. Missouri, I need you to calm Cas down. Charlie, you gotta work fast on keeping our faces off the news or get them changed somehow. I'm trying to avoid another Leviathan shitstorm. Kelly, we're gonna have to tie you up, and you're going to be the poor kidnapped bait, alright? We're trying to clear your name, so you don't go down for this."</p><p>"Why didn't you just ask Cas to change their memories again?" Charlie cried. "Like on the road?"</p><p>"Because Lucifer already put our names out there. They already know the Winchesters are alive, and they're after us for all kinds of crimes, including that bigmouth murder spree," he waved off Kelly's freaked out face, "shapeshifter monsters took our faces."</p><p>"Oh!" She exclaimed, "That's why you look so familiar!"</p><p>Crowley popped back in. "You are so dead, Squirrel. I suggest a whole mountain of roses and chocolates."</p><p>"Shut up. Just take Missouri and Charlie. I'll pray to Cas once they have us locked up, and we'll start planning a rescue, okay? Oh, and... Missouri, tell him I'm sorry, okay?"</p><p>She nodded, and the three disappeared. "You boys are too eager to throw your lives away," Rowena scolded them, then and vanished herself in a puff of smoke.</p><p>"Okay, Sammy, let's tie this poor girl up and get ourselves arrested for kidnapping the president."</p><p>
  
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Here's a picture of Cas's new car! There are more pictures here: http://www.oldparkedcars.com/2011/11/1967-mercury-comet-voyager-4-door.html </p><p>Also, a new thing I learned! A feeling of Foreshortened Future, or that horrible feeling I'm struggling with really bad and may be processing through Dean about feeling like you're going to die soon and need to get your affairs in order for your family, is not a psychic trait, but rather a symptom of PTSD.</p>
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